Seoul condemns killing of Korean woman in Yemen

(ATTN: UPDATES with minor change in 6th para)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, June 16 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government expressed "anger and
shock" Tuesday over the slaying of a South Korean woman apparently kidnapped by
insurgents in Yemen, as her father and brother were to leave for the Middle
Eastern nation later in the day.

Eom Young-sun, 34, had been missing since last Friday, when she went on a picnic
in the northern Yemeni province of Sada with eight other foreigners from Germany
and Britain including three children. The Yemeni authorities said they were
presumed to have been abducted by local rebels or terrorists, possibly al-Qaida.
Eom had been tutoring the children of South Korean members of World Wide
Services, an international medical assistance organization. She was unmarried.
Officials here said Eom and two other women were found dead. While the Yemeni
authorities formally said the fate of the remaining hostages remains unconfirmed,
according to the officials, German authorities believe all of them were also
killed.
"The bodies of three women were found on Monday, according to the Yemeni
government. And one of them has been confirmed to be that of Eom," a foreign
ministry official told reporters in a background briefing on condition of
anonymity. "The fate of six others missing including two children has yet to be
confirmed."
The official withheld the nationality of the other two women found dead and other
related details.
It took time to identify the victims as their bodies had been mutilated, he said,
adding Eom's body, now in a Sada hospital, will be transferred soon to the Yemeni
capital Sanna by a military plane to be brought to South Korea. Eom's family left
for Yemen on Tuesday night, accompanied by a South Korean foreign ministry
official.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the killings, but local rebels or
terrorists are believed to be behind it, the official said.
South Korea's foreign ministry strongly condemned the killings.
"The government cannot contain its anger and shock over the confirmation that our
national has been killed, and strongly denounces this," it said in a statement.
"South Korea will cooperate closely with Yemen, Germany and Britain to find out
the details of this case."
The government has a firm position that any terrorist act against innocent
foreigners is an inhumane crime, and it will actively join international efforts
to root out terrorism, the ministry said.
Terrorist attacks against locals and foreigners have been on the rise in Yemen,
one of Arab world's poorest nations.
In March, four South Korean tourists were killed and three others were wounded in
Yemen after a bomb exploded in the historic city of Shibam, some 90 kilometers
east of Sanna. Another bomb went off that appeared targeted at South Korean
government officials when they visited there to handle the first case, but no one
was hurt.
The Yemeni government said the two terrorist attacks, presumably by al-Qaida,
were aimed at unspecified foreigners.
Seoul issued a non-binding travel warning on Yemen shortly after the attacks.
About 170 South Koreans reside in Yemen, including seven employees of World Wide
Services staying in Sada. The government advised the seven to leave the area.
The government also said it will "prudently review" whether to prevent South
Koreans from traveling to Yemen, saying it is a matter associated with the
people's basic rights to physical freedom.
South Korea has placed travel bans on only three nations -- Iraq, Somalia and
Afghanistan.
Officials said taking such a measure against a country risks exacerbating
diplomatic ties with it.
"We need to closely review the security situation in Yemen, comparing it with
those of the three designated countries," another ministry official said
sam@yna.co.kr
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