The wounded captain of a South Korean freighter freed from Somali pirates underwent another surgery on Sunday shortly after he was flown home from Oman, doctors said.
The 58-year-old captain, Seok Hae-kyun, was immediately taken to Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, a provincial city 60 kilometers south of Seoul, after arriving at a military airport south of the capital on a special ambulance jet late Saturday night.
During the surgery that lasted more than three hours from 12:15 a.m. Sunday, doctors removed infections from Seok's right side, seen as the main cause of septicemia, they said. The disease occurs when an infection in the body enters the bloodstream.
The captain sustained gunshot wounds in five areas, according to doctors at the hospital. His injuries included a ruptured liver and a ruptured large intestine as well as open fractures above the left wrist, in the left thigh and above the right knee.
Doctors said they treated the captain in all these areas, removing dead muscle and tissues and large amounts of pus. They also removed two bullets from his legs.
"The focus of today's treatment was to remove the symptoms of septicemia. We will make plans for additional surgeries after administering antibiotics to prevent further infections in the operated areas and observing his condition," said Yoo Hee-seok, head of Ajou University Hospital.
Seok was shot several times by pirates during a Jan. 21 operation in which South Korean commandos rescued the freighter Samho Jewelry. He was the only one wounded among the 21 crew members of the 11,500-ton chemical carrier that was seized by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea on Jan. 15.
In Oman, he underwent two rounds of surgery to remove bullets and attach leg bones that had been fractured by gunshots. He had been taken to an intensive care unit for recovery. (Yonhap)
