S. Korean woman missing in Yemen: official

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead paras; UPDATES with additional information)
SEOUL, June 14 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean woman has gone missing in Yemen along
with eight other activists from Germany and Britain, an official at South Korea's
foreign ministry said Sunday.

"Nine members, including a South Korean, of an international medical assistance
organization have not been heard from since they went out for a walk on Friday in
Saada, located some 200 kilometers north of the Yemeni capital, Sanna," the
official told reporters.
An earlier report by the AFP said the group included seven Germans, a British and
engineer and a South Korean female teacher, quoting an unidentified official from
Saad cited by Yemen's defense ministry.
The ministry official noted there was a possibility the people could have been
kidnapped given current conditions, but said they were still assumed "missing"
because no one has yet claimed to have kidnapped the civic activists.
An official at Seoul's presidential office earlier said the South Korean embassy
in Yemen was working closely with local police to learn more about the suspected
abduction case.
Four South Korean tourists were killed and three others were injured in Yemen in
March following a terrorist bomb attack in the historic city of Shibam, about 90
kilometers east of the Yemeni capital, Sanna.
The South Korean foreign ministry had placed a travel warning on Yemen shortly
after the terrorist attack in March that prohibits South Koreans from traveling
to the country's terror-prone areas. The warning is still in effect.
The AFP report had said the nine people had been working at a hospital in Saada.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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