Biz rivalry eyed in Korean’s slay

Homicide detectives of the Western Police District are now eyeing the possibility that business intrigue could be behind the slaying of a Korean businessman in Malate, Manila, last Friday night.

Victim Jang Sung Lee, 39, a native of North Korea and temporarily billeted at the Pan Pacific Hotel along Adriatico Street also in Malate, was gunned down by an unidentified gunman after he and his wife stepped out of a Chinese restaurant.

According to police investigation, Jang arrived in Manila last Friday at 1 p.m. and proceeded to the Pan Pacific Hotel where he was met by his Filipina wife, Pearl de Guzman.

The couple then stepped out of the hotel to the nearby Diamond Hotel Tea House where they had dinner. The couple then decided to return to the hotel at about 10:40 p.m.

Police said that as the couple was walking along Dr. Quintos street on their way back to the hotel, two men aboard a red and black motorcycle suddenly appeared.

One of the unidentified men, clad in a black jacket, then alighted from the motorcycle and approached the victim. To the couple’s surprise, the suspect then took out a pistol and shot the victim at close range.

The gunman then boarded the motorcycle and escaped with his unidentified cohort towards Mabini street.

Detectives said the business angle behind the crime cropped up after De Guzman, in a sworn statement, said that prior to the incident, his husband was involved in a court case with some of their manpower recruitment agency’s incorporators. De Guzman, however, did not say what the court case was.

Detective-on-case Virgo Villareal refused to further comment on the progress of their investigation. "We don’t want to speculate. We want everything to be foolproof before we bare anything," said Villareal who also released a sketch of the suspect, allegedly a gun-for-hire.

Villareal added that the victim, who is involved in a manpower recruitment business in the country, had also stayed for sometime in Japan. – Mike Frialde