Two S. Korean climbers missing in Himalayas: peers

CHEONGJU, South Korea, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- A pair of South Korean mountaineers went missing after setting out to climb an Annapurna peak in the Himalayas, their peers said Sunday.

Min Joon-yeong and Park Jong-seong have not been heard from since Friday morning
when they radioed their base camp before climbing toward the 6,440-meter-high
Hiunchuli peak, fellow climbers said.
The climbers were supposed to contact the camp twice a day, they said. Rescuers
conducted a search operation using a helicopter for about an hour but did not
find a trace of the climbers.
"We're having difficulty finding them because of thick fog," said an official at
a South Korean newspaper that had sent a reporter to tag along with the team that
included other mountaineers.
Citing the reporter, the official said the mountaineers are believed to have
disappeared at an altitude of about 5,400 meters.
Min and Park were from North Chungcheong Province in central South Korea, naming
their expedition after an ancient Korean metallic printing system, Jikji, their
peers said.
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