Korean man kidnapped in Libya pleads for help in Facebook video

By Park Sae-jin Posted : August 1, 2018, 16:06 Updated : August 1, 2018, 16:28

[218 News]
 


SEOUL -- A South Korean man kidnapped by an unidentified armed group in Libya pleaded for help from the South Korean government in a video uploaded onto a Facebook page operated by a Libyan TV channel.

An armed militia abducted a South Korean man and three Filipino workers at a water plant in Jabal Hasouna in the western region of Libya on July 6, according to the South's foreign ministry. The identity of kidnappers and their demand have not been confirmed.

A video clip posted on the Facebook account of 218 News, a Libyan media company, showed four people sitting together in a desert and calling for help.

"Please help me, president... our country South Korea," a middle-aged man with an overgrown beard spoke in broken English to a camera, sitting in a desert with three other victims. Behind them, a hooded man sat with a Russian RPK machine gun. The video was uploaded on Friday.

The South Korean man said: "I am too much suffering. I have problem. My wife, my children, too much headache every day regarding me. Too much have problem."
 
One of the three Filipino workers called for help from President Durterte: "We don't have anything. We don't have food, we don't have medicine. Please help us. We are already suffering." 

It's not known who shot the video and provided it. The South Korean embassy in Libya has formed an emergency response team, asking Libyan authorities to provide help in securing the release of those kidnapped, foreign ministry officials said.

Earlier news reports from Libya said the four were working as technicians at a water plant when they were abducted. The Great Man-made River Project later confirmed the abduction in a statement, demanding the release of the workers. The project building a waterway across the desert once involved a South Korean company. Internal conflicts have created a security vacuum in Libya following a 2011 uprising.


 
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