The Korean government announced Sunday that one Korean female volunteer and eight other foreigners belonging to WorldWide Service, an international medic and teacher volunteer group, have been missing.
"The nine medical volunteer members to the Worldwide Service have not yet returned without contact since they went out for outing 200km north of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, around 4 p.m. Friday in local time," said an official of the foreign ministry in Seoul, who refused to be named.
The Korean woman has been identified as a 34-year-old teacher with family name of Eom, the official said. It is reported that eight Koreans, including Eom, have been in Saada in connection with the service organ of Worldwide Service.
The others of the missing are seven Gemans and on British engineer, the Korean official said.
"In view of all situations, it is presumed there is a possibility that they have been kidnapped," he added.
The Korean government has designated Yemen as region of high risk of Step 3 since before last Mach when four Korean tourists were killed in a suicide bomb by rebels in the northwest area.
On the other hand, AFP reported that they have been kidnapped with no one yet claiming responsibility for the kidnapping. They has been working at a hospital in Sadaa for the past 35 years, the news agency said.
The Germans include a couple, three children and two women nurses, the news agency said, quoting an unnamed local authority official in the restive Saada region who was cited by the defense ministry news website September Net.
Worldwide Service, headquartered in the Netherlands, has been providing volunteer services about medical care and home tutoring in developing countries.