A South Korean businessman was abducted by assailants in Peru but was rescued by local police within 24 hours.
Peruvian media reported yesterday that authorities successfully freed the man in his late sixties. Officials indicated that three kidnappers engaged in a shootout with law enforcement during the rescue operation.
According to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the businessman lost contact after parting ways with an acquaintance in Lima early Tuesday morning. Later that afternoon, an employee from his company tried to reach him by phone, but an unidentified individual answered the call. In response, his family promptly reported the situation to the South Korean embassy in Peru and local police.
After receiving the kidnapping report, the embassy quickly established a command center and coordinated with local authorities and the family to provide consular assistance. Following updates from the embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs activated a response team, which was later escalated to the Overseas Citizens Protection Headquarters. The Vice Minister chaired a meeting yesterday to discuss safety measures.
While Peru is generally considered relatively safe compared to other countries in Latin America, recent reports indicate that crime rates have increased due to economic challenges and an influx of migrants following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, more than 700 incidents of kidnapping and attempted kidnapping were reported, marking this incident as the first kidnapping of a South Korean national since 2011.