Police in southern Korea have arrested a suspect in the murder of three Koreans in the Philippines, in a fresh twist to a grisly saga first linked to a spate of vigilante killings.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday said the suspect, surnamed Kim, was arrested in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

Earlier this month, the bodies of a Korean woman and two men were found in a sugar cane field in Bacolor, a town of around 30,000 people north of Manila.

They had gunshot wounds to their heads and their hands and legs were bound with duct tape, a hallmark of thousands of extrajudicial killings that have convulsed the Philippines in recent months.

Police said Kim lived in the Philippines when the murders took place and had been close to the victims. He returned to Korea on Oct. 13, a day after the murders.

Police are also searching for another Korean man in his 30s surnamed Park, who was also close to the victims and is believed to be still in the Philippines.

Kim and Park have been business associates for many years, police said.

The three victims had been under investigation on charges of defrauding investors of W14.8 billion in a boiler room scam in Korea (US$1=W1,128). They fled the country when they found out that they were wanted by police.

"The three victims and the suspects did not know each other in Korea but appear to have met in the Philippines," a police spokesman said. "We have reason to believe that the two suspects committed the crime to get their hands on the victims' money."

