S. Korean survivors return home from Yemen

(ATTN: UPDATES with results of primary investigation; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean tourists who survived what
was believed to be a suicide bombing returned home from Yemen on Tuesday.
Two of them wounded in the blast on Sunday night (Seoul time) were taken by
ambulance shortly after arriving at an airport west of Seoul.
The bomb killed four South Koreans and wounded three others on a group tour to
the ancient city of Shibam, about 900 km east of the Yemeni capital, Sanna. Their
Yemeni driver was also killed.
Yemeni authorities concluded that it was a premeditated attack by a terrorist
group, according to foreign media.
An 18-year-old boy was identified as a suspect suicide bomber linked to al-Qaeda.
A local news agency, NewsYemen, reported that he posed for a photo with the
tourist group before blowing himself up. The South Korean tourists were enjoying
the sunset at the time of the incident.
South Korean government officials partly confirmed the reports.
"The preliminary investigation by the Yemeni Interior Ministry found that it was
a deliberate terrorist attack. That is information we checked through our embassy
there," a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
But he said his government has not yet officially received the full outcome of
the probe.
Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said that South Korean Ambassador to Yemen Kwak
Won-ho will soon meet the country's interior minister to get detailed
information.
The tour group from Seoul was composed of 16 South Korean tourists and two travel
agency officials. The 12 survivors have returned home, while agency officials
remain in Yemen.
Kim Yu-chul, director of the ministry's consular affairs division, said it would
take at least two more days to bring back the bodies of the dead, citing
administrative procedures.
"We are making efforts to transfer them back to South Korea as soon as possible,"
he said.
If confirmed to be a terrorist attack, the incident will alert South Koreans to
the fact that they are not immune from terrorism while abroad. Millions of South
Koreans travel overseas, and millions more live in foreign countries.
The latest incident is likely to pressure the South Korean government to take
more prompt and stern measures to keep its nationals away from danger zones
abroad. Officials say imposing a travel ban to Yemen is a sensitive issue, as the
measure would hurt bilateral ties.
The government has designated all regions throughout Yemen as a "travel
restriction area," a non-biding advisory that strongly urges people not to travel
there. It may have to impose a travel ban on the region, pending the outcome of
the ongoing investigation.
South Koreans are prohibited from visiting Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. In
Iraq, a South Korean worker was kidnapped and beheaded by a local terrorist
network in 2004. In 2007, 23 South Korean church volunteers were abducted by the
Taliban in Afghanistan. Two of them were executed before all others were released
after weeks of captivity.
South Korean ships are common targets for pirates in Somali waters.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)