Somalia: Korea could send gunboat to Somalia

(SomaliNet) Korea will send a fact-finding mission to Somalia this month before deciding whether to dispatch a Navy ship to the African nation, where Korean nationals are constantly being kidnapped by pirates, it emerged on Tuesday.

According to an official, Korean government agencies are discussing deploying a Navy ship in waters off Somalia to prevent hijacks and contribute to the international community.

“A recent meeting of the security policy council agreed to decide whether to send such a ship after dispatching a fact-finding mission to Somalia this month to assess the situation there,” he said.

He said the size of the fact-finding mission has not been decided but it will probably consist of officers from the Defense Ministry and the Navy and officials from the ministries of foreign affairs and of land, transport and maritime affairs, and the National Intelligence Service.

Meanwhile, piracy is getting out of hand off the coast of the lawless nation, where some 50 ships are hijacked for ransom each year. Several Korean ships were hijacked by pirates in 2006 and 2007 and held for up to 174 days.

Korean ship Bright Ruby was hijacked along with eight Korean crewmen on board on Sept. 10 and talks for its release are still underway.

The government official said, \"It\'s certain that countries, which have sent gunboats to Somalia have seen much fewer hijacks of ships than other nations that haven\'t.\"-Agencies.