Navy rescues all 21 abducted sailors
8 Somali pirates killed, 5 others captured during operation
By Lee Tae-hoon
South Korean Navy commandos rescued all 21 crewmembers of the cargo ship Samho Jewelry, hijacked last week by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, a senior military official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday.
Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-ho of the JCS said eight of the Somali pirates were killed and the remaining five were captured during the operation, code-named “Gulf of Aden Daybreak.”
Only one sailor, the captain of the 11,500-ton chemical carrier, was wounded, while the Navy assault team suffered no casualties during the operation.
President Lee Myung-bak reaffirmed Seoul's resolve not to tolerate any future attacks on South Koreans.
"This operation demonstrated our government’s strong will that we won't tolerate illegal activities by pirates anymore," Lee said in a nationally televised address.
He also praised the Navy’s successful operation, saying, “Our military flawlessly carried out the mission under difficult circumstances.”
Both ruling and opposition parties expressed their appreciation for the 300-strong Cheonghae unit, which has been deployed as part of a joint international anti-piracy campaign in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast since 2009.
The Cheonghae unit, comprising a 4,500-ton destroyer and a Lynx helicopter, began operations at 4:58 a.m. (9:58 a.m. Korean time), right before sunrise, Lt. Gen. Lee said.
Lee said 22 UDT commandos wearing night vision apparatus stormed the hijacked ship, while the destroyer fired warning shots to distract the pirates and its Lynx helicopter provided covering fire.
The operation was successfully completed at 9:56 a.m. (2:56 p.m. Korean time), after cabin-to-cabin battles.
“Our Special Forces raided the hijacked Samho Jewelry earlier today and freed all of the 21 hostages,” he said.
The abducted crewmembers were eight Koreans, two Indonesians, and 11 Myanmarese.
A Somali pirate shot the captain of the ship in the abdomen during the operation, but his condition is not life-threatening, Lee said, adding that he was immediately taken to a nearby hospital by a U.S. helicopter.
The unprecedented rescue operation, which had been kept top secret since it started early this week, took place in high seas about 1,300 kilometers off northeast Somalia.
On Tuesday, the Cheonghae unit carried out its first rescue mission, but had to retreat after three South Korean Special Forces troops were wounded in a gun battle, a spokesman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
“None of the three, identified as a lieutenant commander, a senior chief petty officer and a petty officer 1st class, had life threatening injuries but they were taken to a hospital in Oman,” JCS spokesman Lee Bung-woo said.
He said the Cheonghae unit launched the operation after some pirates armed with AK-47 rifles left the Samho Jewelry in a small boat to hijack a Mongolian freighter.
The Cheonghae unit’s Lynx helicopter attacked the boat, killing all of the pirates onboard.
"Three of our soldiers suffered superficial injuries as they were fired upon by pirates Tuesday," Lee said. "Our Lynx helicopter immediately returned fire and several pirates fell into the waters. We believe they are dead."
Since Tuesday, a standoff between the South Korean destroyer and the Somali pirates had continued. An Omani Navy ship arrived at the scene of the confrontation to support the rescue operation.
The Samho Jewelry was hijacked last Saturday while heading for Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates and was seized in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean some 2,000 kilometers from the Cheonghae unit.
Some 30 vessels and 700 hostages are known to be held captive by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
The Geummi 305, a trawler seized last October with two South Korean sailors aboard, is the only South Korean ship still being held captive by Somali pirates.
Some countries, including the United States and France, have also succeeded in rescuing their citizens from the pirates through military operations.
피랍선원 전원구출, 해적 8명 사살
한국 해군의 특수요원들이 지난주 인도양에서 소말리아 해적에게 피랍된 화
물선 '삼호주얼리호' 선원 21명 전원을 구출했다고 합동참모본부 관계자가
21일 밝혔다.
이성호 합참 군사지원본부장은 특수요원들이 ‘아덴만 여명작전'으로 명명된
구출 작전중 해적 8명을 사살하였으며 나머지 5명은 생포했다고 말했다.
화학물질 운반선 주얼리호 (11,500t)의 선장 한 사람 만이 부상을 당했으며 작전에 투입된 특수요원들은 전원 무사했다.
이명박 대통령은 성공적인 구출작전을 치하하고 앞으로 한국사람을 공격하는 어떤 행위도 용납하지 않을 것이라고 강조했다.
이 대통령은 "우리 군은 어려운 여건에서도 완벽하게 작전을 수행했다"면서 "치하와 격려를 보낸다"고 말했다.