Piracy surges off lawless Somalia
A South Korean ship carrying five Somali pirates captured in a dramatic commando raid has not been allowed to berth in Oman, Seoul officials said Thursday.
South Korean navy commandos last Friday stormed the hijacked 11,500-ton freighter Samho Jewelry and rescued all 21 crew members - eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 from Myanmar.
Eight pirates were killed and five seized. Seoul wants to bring the captives, currently detained on the freighter, to South Korea to stand trial.
The ship, escorted by the South Korean destroyer Choi Young, arrived at the Omani port of Muscat on Tuesday but has so far been refused permission to dock due to the presence of the pirates on board, Seoul's defence ministry said.
"The Choi Young has been given approval for docking but the Samho Jewelry has not," ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters.
"We've heard that the Omani government, proclaiming itself as a 'clean state', does not like the idea of criminals and pirates being brought into its territory," he said.
A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff called it a "technical" delay.
Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified government official, said Seoul wants to bring the pirates to South Korea by military aircraft by February 1.
But Oman's refusal to allow the Samho Jewelry into its port may delay the process, it said.
Another defence ministry spokesman declined to comment on the airlift report, saying it was just one of several ideas being reviewed.
"We can't reveal any details on how we will transport the pirates since doing so could cause international problems," he told AFP.
Seoul also hopes to airlift home the captain of the Samho Jewelry, the only crew member wounded in the rescue. He underwent an operation in hospital in Oman after being shot three times by pirates during the raid.
Seok Hae-Kyun, 58, remains unconscious.
Piracy has surged off lawless Somalia in recent years, and international warships patrol the area in a bid to clamp down on the problem.