Four S. Korean tourists killed in Yemen bomb attack

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with ministry's announcement)
SEOUL, March 16 (Yonhap) -- Four South Koreans traveling in Yemen were killed and
four others were wounded in an apparent terrorist bomb attack on Sunday night
(Seoul time), South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday.
The attack, the latest targeting foreigners in the Arab nation known as a center
of militant activity by al-Qaida and other extremists, occurred at around 11:50
p.m. in the southern city of Syoun, it said, following related foreign media
reports.
The ministry said the South Korean victims included two men and two women, all of
whom were on a group tour. Their Yemeni guide was also killed. The four wounded
Koreans were sent to Syoun Hospital and they are not in a critical condition, a
ministry official said.
"We are still trying to find the exact cause of the incident and related
developments," said Kim Yu-chul, director of the ministry's department handling
accidents involving South Koreans abroad.
The government called an emergency meeting of related agencies, chaired by Vice
Foreign Minister Shin Kak-soo, on Monday morning to discuss the incident.
The meeting involved officials from the presidential office, the prime minister's
office, the state intelligence agency, and police.
"The foreign ministry separately formed a task force to gather information on the
bombing and consult with the Yemeni authorities on the transfer of the bodies of
the victims," the official said. The ministry is also taking measures to support
the planned visit by bereaved families to Yemen, he added.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)