A South Korean man has been released after being held captive by an unidentified armed gang for 15 days in the Philippines, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The 55-year-old Korean man, only identified by his surname Yoon, was released late Tuesday (Korean Time) after being kidnapped on Jan. 19 in Mindanao, the Philippines' second-largest and easternmost island, according to officials.

"Police in the Philippines have confirmed the safety of the Korean national," a foreign ministry official said.

The Korean national was abducted last month by a group of armed militants in Saguiaran while he was driving a car together with an unarmed policeman.

The kidnappers had demanded an unspecified amount of ransom from his family while threatening to kill him, according to Yoon's family. His wife reportedly delivered part of the ransom to them in exchange for the release.

The case was the latest kidnapping targeting South Koreans in the Philippines where violent crime such as murder and robbery aimed at Korean nationals have been on the rise in recent years.

Four South Koreans were set free on Jan. 26 after being held as hostages in the city of San Juan for four days.

Ten South Koreans were killed there last year while 13 Korean nationals were murdered there in 2013, according to the foreign ministry. In 2014, three cases of abduction of South Koreans took place.

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao consists of five Muslim provinces. Security in Mindanao remains unstable as Al-Qaeda-linked fundamentalist group Abusayapu and other Muslim extremists have been involved in crime targeting foreigners.

South Korea has imposed a special travel warning on Mindanao as crime targeting South Koreans there has increased. The travel warning calls for immediate withdrawal from the region.

Currently, an inspector-level officer is assigned to Manila's state police agency to handle criminal cases involving South Koreans. (Yonhap)