A South Korean man convicted of shooting three Koreans to death in the Philippines three years ago has escaped from custody. 

According to the South Korean embassy in the Philippines on Thursday, the 40-year-old identified by his surname Park escaped from his guards after a trial in Tarlac province on Wednesday. 

Park was arrested for shooting the three victims in a sugar cane field in Bacolor, some 70 kilometers northwest of Manila, in October 2016, with an accomplice surnamed Kim. 

While a South Korean court sentenced Kim to 30 years in prison, Park, who had been awaiting extradition to South Korea, escaped from a detention center in March 2017. He was arrested three months later, and was being detained at the Pampanga Provincial Jail for murder and possession of narcotics. 

After attending a trial in Tarlac province for illegal possession of firearms, Park escaped through a ventilation window in a restaurant bathroom, according to Philippine police. 

The South Korean embassy said it sent an official request to the Philippine authorities to swiftly track down Park and punish those responsible for the escape.