South Korea sends warship to Libya on rescue mission

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL

South Korea said Thursday it has dispatched a warship to Libya, as Seoul responded to social media footage showing four abducted men -- one South Korean and three Filipinos.

They were kidnapped on July 6 at a water plant in the western Libyan region of Jabal Hasouna, according to Seoul's Foreign Ministry.

Undated footage of the abductees posted on social media this week did not make clear who was behind the kidnapping or what they want, but one of the victims was shown saying in English: "Please help me, president, our country South Korea."

Seoul's presidential office answered by revealing it has sent a 4,000-ton destroyer, Munmu the Great, to Libyan waters.

"His country and his president have never once forgotten him," presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said in a statement published by local news agency Yonhap.

"On the first day he was abducted, the president ordered the government to do its utmost with all resources the country has," Kim added.

Munmu the Great is part of the South's Gulf of Aden anti-piracy unit, which freed citizens stranded in Libya in 2011 among other security and rescue missions.