Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul said on Tuesday the on-going negotiations to set free a South Korean fishing vessel and its 25-member crew from Somali armed factions is at a standstill due to the kidnappers’ “internal dispute.”
The statement came a day after KBS, a South Korean broadcaster, conducted a telephone interview with the captain of the 361-ton Dongwon Fisheries tuna vessel, who argued that he and his crew are experiencing ill treatment, lack of food and three of them are suffering from malaria.
But a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity that Seoul’s priority is to secure safe return of the hostages and the government has not received any indications signifying drastic deterioration of the detainees’ circumstances in Somalia.
“It has not been confirmed whether some of them really contracted malaria, but Dongwon delivered medical supplies through a specific channel for the sake of their health,” he said. “We estimate that there is nobody who needs to be hospitalized now.”
The official also underlined that the government thinks the kidnappers are not showing severe animosity toward the detainees or resorting to violence, saying Seoul is checking the situation there “directly and indirectly.”
He said the negotiation is at its final phase, but the conflict within the group of Somali factions is preventing the dialogue from finding a breakthrough. “The kidnappers dissent from each other over the terms of release,” he said.
The official did not elaborate on the terms and declined to answer whether the amount of ransom is the stumbling block.
Under a principle of not negotiating directly with kidnappers, the government is supporting Dongwon’s efforts to secure the release of the vessel and crew. Seoul is also contacting Somalia’s interim government, its neighboring countries and the United States to ask for their help in releasing the abductees.
The South Korean vessel and crew, including eight South Koreans, were seized by a group of armed men off the coast of Somalia on April 4. They are reportedly being held hostage at sea near the port of Obbia in central Somalia.
Also part of the crew are nine Indonesians, five Vietnamese and three Chinese fishermen.
The kidnappers, identified by Seoul as “Somali Marine,” argued they are not pirates and what they want from Dongwon is not ransom but a “fine” for the vessel’s illegal fishing in its economic water zone.
Dongwon received a fishing license from the interim Somali government, but the kidnappers do not acknowledge it, the foreign ministry in Seoul said.
A nationally functioning state government does not exist in Somalia, still reeling from the shock of civil war. An interim government and a transitional national assembly were installed in November 2000. But little change has been achieved.
Last year alone, Somali insurgents attacked 35 vessels passing through or fishing in the economic water zone where the South Korean tuna vessel was hijacked. All of them were set free after paying a ransom.
Source: Korea Times, May 9, 2006
