Overseas Abduction of Our Citizens Reaches 56 in the Last 10 Years... 3 Deaths Reported

Frequent Pirate Attacks in West Africa... Two Kidnapped Nationals Released Safely After 51 Days Since April 17

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] It has been revealed that over the past 10 years, 56 South Korean nationals have been kidnapped overseas, with 3 fatalities.

According to data submitted on the 18th by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Rep. Lee Yong-seon of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, a total of 56 South Korean nationals were kidnapped abroad in the past decade, averaging about 5.6 people per year.

Looking at the past 10 years by continent, there were 20 incidents involving 46 people in Africa, 6 incidents involving 8 people in Asia, 1 incident involving 1 person in the Americas, and 1 incident involving 1 person in the Middle East. Among these, there were also 3 fatalities.

In Africa, half of the cases?11 incidents involving 21 victims?occurred in West African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The two sailors who were released on the 17th were also kidnapped in Togo, West Africa, at the end of August.

In the first half of this year alone, there were 98 pirate attacks in the West African region, accounting for 35.7% of the total. Kidnappings of sailors in this area numbered 54, making up 90.1% of all cases. The frequent kidnappings in West Africa are analyzed to be due to pirates being armed with firearms and using speedboats to carry out attacks even in the high seas.

Rep. Lee Yong-seon stated, “I understand that the Coast Guard was dispatched for the first time to effectively respond to recent pirate incidents off the coast of West African countries,” and added, “Going forward, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and overseas diplomatic missions should spare no effort in ensuring the safe release of our nationals, providing information and negotiation strategy advice to victims’ families and related parties.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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