Cabinet backs naval operations in waters off Somalia

SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday approved a government
plan to send a naval ship and forces to waters off Somalia to protect
international commercial vessels from pirates from the East African nation,
government officials said.
A weekly Cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak at the
presidential office ratified the government plan to dispatch a Korean Navy
destroyer and about 310 troops to the sea off the Gulf of Aden, said the
officials.
Following the Cabinet approval, the Lee administration will present a motion to a
special parliamentary session scheduled for February to allow the naval operation
until end of this year, they noted.
If the motion is ratified by the National Assembly, the South Korean Navy will be
involved in overseas operations for the first time in the nation's military
history.
Last month, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution
authorizing international land operations against "audacious, armed pirates"
sheltering in Somalia. The resolution, co-sponsored by South Korea, Belgium,
France, Greece and Liberia, authorized the states to "take all necessary measures
that are appropriate in Somalia" to suppress "acts of piracy and armed robbery at
sea."
Somali pirates have attacked dozens of international cargo ships, including South
Korean vessels, this year and are now believed to be holding nearly 20 ships and
their crews hostage.
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