Former Cop Held Hostage in Robbery

A former cop is being chased by the police after his foiled attempt at robbery involving hostages.

At around 7:40 a.m. on Sep. 30th, a manager of a securities company in Gyepoh Dong, Kangnam Gu, Seoul, was kidnapped by three thugs in the parking lot located in the basement of his company. Among the kidnappers was a former detective (35), whose last name is Koh. Koh worked in the police station having jurisdiction over the area in which the company is located.

Once kidnapped, the manager was put into a car and left there for about 8 hours. At around 4:20 p.m., on the part of the Olympic Highway in Songpah Gu, Seou, he succeeded in escaping with handcuffs on. Right thereafter, people around that area helped secure his safety and reported the case to the police.

The manager said, "I have known Koh for a long time. But suddenly on that morning, he ordered me to follow him, showing an arrest warrant. That`s why I got in his car. Once I got in the car, he handcuffed me. Then, he demanded, `Give me all the money you have [i.e. about 250 million won].`"

One of Koh`s accomplices, who turned himself in on Oct. 1, said, "I did not know Koh had quit his job as the police officer. He asked for my help and just told me to drive a car for him. That`s why I followed him. I thought he was doing an investigation. "

After two years of working at Seoul District Court, he returned to Kangnam Police Station in March of this year. Before he quit his job in July, he was working with the prosecution to investigate illegal manipulation of the stock market.

sys1201@donga.com