ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

A suspected kidnap-for-ransom gang that may have links to an al-Qaeda-linked militant group has abducted a South Korean national in the southern Philippines.

Capt. Rowena Muyuela, Philippines army spokesperson, told The Anadolu Agency on Sunday that Noui Hong Sung, 73, was taken from his home in Zamboanga Sibugay province’s Roseller Lim town at around 9.30 p.m. (1330GMT) Saturday.

“We're still looking into the involvement of the Abu Sayyaf in the abduction,” Muyuela said in a text message.

According to Muyuela, a military report said the victim was abducted by five armed suspects on board a minivan.

Saturday’s incident marked the second abduction of a South Korean national in a six-month period.

On Sept. 11 last year, Korean-Chinese businessman Li Pei Zhei was kidnapped in Kabasalan town -- also in Zamboanga Sibugay – by a suspected Abu Sayyaf-linked gang.

After eight weeks in captivity, he was released on the outskirts of the town of Alicia.

Kidnapping has become a business enterprise in the southern Philippines, where groups seize victims and turn them over to the Abu Sayyaf, which keeps the hostage while the gang negotiates for a ransom -- which, if paid, is shared by both groups.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.