S. Koreans begin evacuations from Libya
Rioters have attacked an additional four South Korean-run construction sites in Libya, an official said Wednesday, fueling concern about the safety of South Korean workers in the African nation, Yonhap reported.
Vehicles were stolen from three of the four sites, but there were no casualties, the foreign ministry official said without providing further details, such as how many intruders raided the sites.
The raids were the latest in a series of attacks on Korean-run construction sites in Libya amid fanning anti-government protests. The attacks fueled concern about the safety of about 1,400 South Koreans staying in the country, most of them construction firm workers.
South Korea has already issued its second-highest travel warning for all of Libya, telling its citizens to leave the country unless they are on urgent and unavoidable trips, and to cancel or postpone nonessential visits there.
South Korea's embassy in Libya has also been advising Koreans there to leave the country.
On Tuesday, nine South Korean workers left Libya and arrived in Egypt via an overland route in what is believed to be the first such evacuation. More departures are expected.
Egypt has set up a border camp and is accepting people crossing from Libya, officials said.
South Koreans in Libya are largely in two groups, those staying in and around the eastern capital city of Tripoli and the others in and around the western port city of Benghazi.
There are no major anti-government protests in Tripoli, though protesters are surrounding the capital city while attempting to get into it. Benghazi is already believed to have fallen into the hands of protesters, officials said.
"The route from Benghazi to Egypt is safer than the one from Benghazi to Tripoli," Baik Joo-hyeon, a foreign ministry director general in charge of consular affairs, told reporters. "We're advising our companies in Benghazi to evacuate to Egypt in case of emergency."
Baik said the government is considering various evacuation options for those in Tripoli, including chartering a flight from Egypt Airlines, as the carrier expressed a willingness to run a charter flight from Cairo to Tripoli.
The official said South Korea is also considering asking its national flag carrier, Korean Air, to have one of its regular flights to Europe used as a charter flight for evacuating people in Tripoli.
South Korean ambassador to Libya Jo Dae-sik, who had been in Seoul for an annual conference of diplomatic mission chiefs, left for Libya on Tuesday to oversee safety measures. The envoy is expected to arrive later Wednesday in Tunisia, from which he plans to use an overland route to Libya.
The latest wave of raids on Korean construction sites began last Friday when hundreds of Libyans entered a site in Derna in eastern Libya and set fire to buildings. Officials said anti-government protests appear to have fueled the rioting, which is believed to have started over discontent with the government's housing policy.
