S. Korean embassy in Libya temporarily moved to Tunisia

SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's embassy in the Libyan capital of Tripoli has been temporarily moved to a Tunisian island amid escalating dangers from NATO air strikes against the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.
"We relocated the embassy temporarily as the security situation in Tripoli is seriously deteriorating amid NATO's air strikes," a ministry official told reporters on the condition of anonymity. "We plan to move the embassy back to Tripoli as soon as the situation in Libya improves."
A total of 15 South Koreans, including embassy staff, their families and other Korean residents in the strife-torn nation, took a three-hour land route to the small southern island of Djerba off Tunisia on Sunday, the official said.
"Ever since the international community imposed economic sanctions on Libya, there's been a serious lack of daily necessities and fuel, forcing people to travel by bike," the official said. "We decided that it would be difficult to keep our embassy in Libya with frequent cases of theft."
Some 20 foreign missions currently remain open in Libya, including those from China, Russia and North Korea.