S. Korean minister asks people to shun terrorism-prone nations

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign minister appealed to the
country's citizens Friday to avoid traveling to foreign countries vulnerable to
terrorist attacks, amid growing worries that South Koreans may have become a main
target.
The request by Yu Myung-hwan followed a series of bomb attacks in Yemen against
South Koreans earlier this week. Local and foreign media reports said al-Qaida
appears to have picked South Koreans especially because their country is a key
ally of the United States.
An 18-year-old boy blew himself up on Sunday night (Seoul time) in Yemen's eastern
city of Shibam, killing four South Korean tourists and wounding three others on a
group tour there.
Another suicide bomber carried out a failed attack on Wednesday against a team of
South Korean government officials who were visiting Yemen to help investigate the
Sunday explosion.
The minister, however, cautioned against jumping to a conclusion that South
Koreans were attacked in Yemen because of their nationality.
"The government is making efforts to find out related facts in close cooperation
with the government of Yemen, the U.S., Britain, and other allies," Yu told
reporters.
"In any case, South Korean people need to have a sense of alertness against
terror and take every possible safety measure," Yu said.
Media reports said the attacks in Yemen were directed at South Koreans because
of Seoul's support for Washington in the war on terror.
Thousands of South Korean troops were stationed in northern Iraq from 2004-2008
to help the U.S.-led reconstruction efforts, and 200 South Korean military medics
and engineers were brought back home at the end of 2007 after several years of
service in Afghanistan to assist the U.S. campaign there.
South Korea is seeking to send more civilian workers to Afghanistan, and it has
not ruled out the possibility of re-dispatching troops there in the future.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)