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By Sami Zaptia.
London, 2 August 2018:
South Korea confirmed today that it is sending one of its warships to Libya to help release one of its kidnapped citizens.
The 4,000-tonne warships, ‘’’Munmu the Great’’, usually takes part in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Korean media has also reported that a special operations unit is on standby on a Greek island.
The South Korean was kidnapped along with three Filipino engineers on 6 July while working at a (Man-Made River) water project site in western Libya.
All four were featured in a video circulating on social media this week in which they appeal to their president to help release them. Brief glimpses of their armed captures could be seen during the filming. The video has now been confirmed as genuine by their governments.
The kidnapping could have negative implications on Libyan-Korean relations as South Korea had announced in June that it was reopening its embassy in Libya this September and lifting its embargo on Korean companies from operating in Libya.
However, it will be recalled that the Faiez Serraj-led Presidency Council’s Presidential Guard offered in April this year to provide security for South Korean companies.
The offer had been disclosed by the Presidential Guard during a meeting between the South Korean ambassador Choi Sung-Soo and the Commander of the Presidential Guard, Najmi Nakua.
South Korea to reopen its embassy in September and allow its companies to resume projects in Libya
PC’s Presidential Guard could provide security for Korean companies
