A former member of the South Korean national soccer team and a former professional baseball player were held for allegedly kidnapping a woman to collect ransom money, police said Tuesday.
The 28-year-old former soccer player, identified only by his surname Kim, was caught after he was given a three-year suspended jail sentence in connection with a match-fixing scandal, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing police sources.
The two suspects were arrested Saturday in the capital, Seoul. They were accused of stopping a Mercedes-Benz driven by a woman in her 40s, kidnapping her and then stealing the car.
Police reports said the woman managed to escape when the vehicle slowed down, then chased the two suspects after hailing a cab.
The two men abandoned the car but were caught by police.
The report said the two suspects told police they carried out the crime to pay interest payments for business loans.
