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| Armed supporters of the Houthi movement attend a gathering to collect food supplies for Houthi fighters at the battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen, Nov. 14. AP-Yonhap |
By Kim Yoo-chul
Two South Koreans captured by Yemen's Houthi rebels were released, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, Wednesday.
"Sixteen sailors including two South Koreans as well as two South Korean vessels and one Saudi Arabian vessel were released around 3:50 a.m., Monday (KST). The release came 45 hours after the Korean vessels were seized by the Houthi rebels," the ministry official said in a statement.
The official said the ministry notified the families about the release of the South Korean sailors. "The health status of the Koreans is looking good. The released South Korean vessels were on course heading for the Saudi Arabian port of Jizan. The vessels will arrive at the port in two days," the release said.
The official thanked the relevant authorities of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates for their close cooperation in the safe release of the South Koreans.
Earlier, two South Korean vessels including one tugboat ― both owned by the South Korean company Woongjin Development ― were seized by the Houthi rebels in waters about 24 kilometers west of Yemen's Kamaran Island. The vessels were on their way to Berbera, Somalia.
Right after the incident, the Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack insisting the captive vessels were violating their maritime territory. But they told foreign media outlets that they had planned to release them once the captured vessels were confirmed as South Korean.
The government immediately ordered its anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit, which has been operating off the coast of Somalia, to join rescue efforts. A series of attacks on oil tankers and production facilities in the Red Sea, a major oil shipping route, has increased tensions, recently including earlier drone attacks on Saudi Arabia's Abqaiq oil product processing facility, which is the largest of its kind globally.
