Korea's anti-piracy warship searching for three Koreans abducted by pirates off coast of Ghana
- 6 years ago
South Korea has sent an anti-piracy warship to waters near Ghana after three Korean nationals were among those kidnapped by pirates.
For more on this, we connect live with our Park Ji-won,... who's standing by at the defense ministry in Seoul.
Ji-won, tell us more.
Mark.
It's been around a week now,... since three South Korean nationals were abducted by pirates in the waters off the coast of Ghana last Monday,... but as of now, no information about the hostages' whereabouts,... nor the specific demands of the pirates have been made public.
And the South Korean navy's 44-hundred-ton destroyer Munmu the Great,... which was operating with South Korea's Cheonghae Unit in the Gulf of Aden,... was dispatched to the area last Wednesday,... and it is expected to arrive off the West African coast around April 16th,... to help retrieve the kidnapped crew members.
South Korea's defense ministry said this morning,... that for security reasons, it cannot publicly release any further information about the destroyer's current route and its possible operations at the destination.
The South Korean navy's destroyer is carrying some 30 naval warfare special forces troops,... and Lynx multi-role helicopters armed with 12.7-milimeter machine guns.
Seoul's foreign ministry earlier said that it is believed that about nine armed pirates used a speed boat to race toward the Marine 7-1-1,... a fishing boat with three South Korean nationals,... as well as some 40 crew members from Ghana, on board,.... to hijack it and kidnap the crew.
The South Korean government said it's closely working with Ghana, Nigeria and other neighboring nations to secure the safe return of the Korean nationals.
In a similar case,... back in 2011, South Korean navy's Cheonghae Unit successfully carried out an operation to rescue the South Korean crew of a cargo vessel hijacked by Somali pirates.
That's all I have for now, back to you. Mark.
For more on this, we connect live with our Park Ji-won,... who's standing by at the defense ministry in Seoul.
Ji-won, tell us more.
Mark.
It's been around a week now,... since three South Korean nationals were abducted by pirates in the waters off the coast of Ghana last Monday,... but as of now, no information about the hostages' whereabouts,... nor the specific demands of the pirates have been made public.
And the South Korean navy's 44-hundred-ton destroyer Munmu the Great,... which was operating with South Korea's Cheonghae Unit in the Gulf of Aden,... was dispatched to the area last Wednesday,... and it is expected to arrive off the West African coast around April 16th,... to help retrieve the kidnapped crew members.
South Korea's defense ministry said this morning,... that for security reasons, it cannot publicly release any further information about the destroyer's current route and its possible operations at the destination.
The South Korean navy's destroyer is carrying some 30 naval warfare special forces troops,... and Lynx multi-role helicopters armed with 12.7-milimeter machine guns.
Seoul's foreign ministry earlier said that it is believed that about nine armed pirates used a speed boat to race toward the Marine 7-1-1,... a fishing boat with three South Korean nationals,... as well as some 40 crew members from Ghana, on board,.... to hijack it and kidnap the crew.
The South Korean government said it's closely working with Ghana, Nigeria and other neighboring nations to secure the safe return of the Korean nationals.
In a similar case,... back in 2011, South Korean navy's Cheonghae Unit successfully carried out an operation to rescue the South Korean crew of a cargo vessel hijacked by Somali pirates.
That's all I have for now, back to you. Mark.