THE daughter of a Korean businessman on Sunday urged Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to ensure the safety of her father who was arrested by Immigration officials in his office in Makati City.
Junghee Kang, the eldest daughter of Kang Tae Sik, told reporters in Quezon City that Aguirre should guarantee her father’s safety.
She said her 74-year-old father was the legitimate owner and operator of K&L Jinro Philippines Inc. and had never been involved in any illicit activity, and that he had been staying in the Philippines for 38 years.
In a Feb. 23 Senate hearing on the Jee Ick Jooe kidnap-slay case, Aguirre claimed that an anonymous Duterte administration official had said Kang Tae Sik was the head of a Korean mafia, but the Korean Embassy in Manila denied it.
“We are willing to give up our business to them [Korean mafia]. Just free our father and let him live his life freely,” Junghee said.
“If indeed this Korean syndicate wants our business, we are willing to give it to them. Just free our father.”
Junghee said she would convince her father to give up their business as a distributor of a popular Korean liquor.
“Spare my father. We have been doing legal business here for so many years as we love your country,” she said
Redentor Viaje, Kangs’ lawyer, said they will file today a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Court of Appeals to seek the nullification of Aguirre’s arrest order on the older Kang.
He maintained Kang’s innocence and involvement in the so-called Korean mafia that was allegedly responsible for the kidnapping and killing of businessman Jee Ick Joo, who was strangled inside Camp Crame.
“Authorities had no right to arrest Kang,” he said.
No arrest warrant was presented when Kang was arrested on March 23, he said.
Aguirre reversed the final decision written by his predecessor, now Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguiao, granting Kang’s appeal from the resolution of Bureau of Immigration ordering Kang’s deportation.
