JOLO, the Philippines — Muslim militants in the southern Philippines on Saturday freed a South Korean captain and his Filipino crewman who were abducted three months ago from their cargo ship amid a wave of offshore kidnappings, officials said. Mr. Park wore a scarf, partly covering his face. At least 27 hostages, many of them foreign crewmen, remain in the hands of Abu Sayyaf factions, he said. Without a known foreign source of funds, Abu Sayyaf has survived mostly on ransom kidnappings, extortion and other acts of banditry. The militants have mostly targeted slow-moving tugboats in the busy section of the sea that borders the southern Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Source: New York Times January 14, 2017 16:49 UTC