South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Sunday instructed his government to take all possible measures to resolve the hijacking of a South Korean freighter, which was apparently seized by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, presidential aides said. Lee issued the instruction after returning from a provincial trip, as South Korea's 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young, which belongs to the Cheonghae Unit, was in the process of moving toward the hijacked freighter, said the aides. The Samho Jewelry, an 11,500-ton chemical freighter, was en route to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates carrying 21 crew members when it was seized in waters between Oman and India on Saturday, Yonhap News Agency reported. "President Lee was briefed on the government's countermeasures for the hijacking of the Samho Jewelry as well as the dispatch of the Choi Young destroyer," said a presidential secretary. "The government will comprehensively deal with the incident. South Korea's destroyer cannot stand idle as our commercial ship has been hijacked." According to government sources in Seoul, the Choi Young has begun to sail toward the Samho Jewelry and is expected to reach waters near the hijacked ship in two days.
