Navy commandos who rescued S. Korean ship from Somali pirates return home

BUSAN, May 27 (Yonhap) -- The elite Navy commandos credited with rescuing a South Korean crew and their ship from Somali pirates in a dramatic raid in January returned home on Friday after completing their six-month anti-piracy mission in waters off Somalia.
About 2,000 people, including Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and Navy chief Adm. Kim Sung-chan, attended a ceremony welcoming the return of the commandos at a port in this southern city of Busan.
In the daring operation on Jan. 21 in the Arabian Sea, eight pirates were killed, while five were arrested and sent to Busan to stand trial.
All 21 crew aboard the Samho Jewelry were rescued six days after pirates took them hostage, but captain Seok Hae-kyun suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Seok is recovering in the hospital after undergoing several rounds of surgery.
South Korea has dispatched a destroyer with some 300 Navy commandos to the Gulf of Aden since early 2009 under a global effort to tackle piracy there.
The replacement contingent for the Cheonghae unit, named after a ninth-century Korean naval base, began its mission early this month in the piracy-infested shipping routes.
Earlier in the day, South Korean prosecutors demanded a death sentence for one Somali pirate and life imprisonment for three others for attacking the Samho Jewelry and attempting to kill the captain. The remaining pirate has pleaded guilty.