A South Korean naval unit patrolling in pirate-plagued Somali waters has rescued an Egyptian-registered vessel from being hijacked, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said Thursday.
The Cheonghae unit, aboard a 2,100-ton destroyer, has been operating in the Gulf of Aden since early last month as part of a U.S.-led multinational anti-piracy campaign.
The rescue which took place Wednesday night (Korean time) marked the fourth time the 300-member unit has driven away suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia, having also aided North Korean, Danish and Panamanian commercial ships, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Somalia has not had a functional government since its dictator was overthrown by warlords in 1991. Poverty has driven a large number of locals to piracy, while black market sales of weapons run rampant.
Approximately 500 South Korean ships ply the route each year, according to the South Korean defense ministry, which estimates 150 are vulnerable to pirate attacks because of their low speed.
The Mummu the Great destroyer was deployed mainly to protect South Korean vessels in the route where over 110 pirate-related incidents took place last year, a five-fold jump from two years earlier.
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Please stay on topic.
tuscan (67.160.239.110)
05-16-2009 17:26
Globaloptions: You should post links showing how much destructions did your african american bros. caused to the hard working koreans in LA riot. ^^
tuscan (67.160.239.110)
05-16-2009 17:25
Gillian:"Korea takes all the credit for something that others did." Don't be a bigot. Just because KT posted something doesn't give u the right to generalize and criticize a whole nation. So STFU u anti korean prick.
Gillian (125.136.135.130)
05-16-2009 05:51
Thanks for the link, Globaloptions. I am really disgusted with the Korea Times for not reporting the real story. This is the kind of crap that leaves people with a bad taste in their mouths. Korea takes all the credit for something that others did. Of course, giving credit to the US would be against their anti-American philosophy.
eslangel (202.31.242.125)
05-15-2009 21:41
Actually the real story is: boarding team from the Gettysburg apprehended 17 suspected pirates on board a dhow ship suspected of serving as a pirate mothership, the US Navy said.
The US team found eight assault rifles, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and one rocket-propelled grenade on the dhow, it said.
pastor2 (211.206.16.166)
05-15-2009 09:07
GO: Wow.. after reading your link to CNN... I found myself wondering why didn't the Koreatimes give a little credit to the other countries that were involved in this action.. by reading the KT you would think the Korean ship was the only one involved...^^
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