S. Korea to attend contact group's inaugural meeting on Somali piracy

SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will take part in the first meeting of a
contact group set up to deal with rampant piracy off Somalia's coast, to be held
this week in New York, government officials said Monday.
The 22-member group will meet Wednesday and Thursday to discuss ways to share
information on Somali pirates and jointly take legal measures to punish them, the
foreign ministry said. The members, including South Korea, the United States,
Britain and France, are also expected to issue a statement on the outcome of the
meeting.
The establishment of the group followed the adoption of a U.S. resolution by the
U.N. Security Council last month that authorized for the first time international
operations in Somali territory to combat piracy off the country's coast.
South Korea's anti-terrorism envoy, Oh Gab-riel, will represent South Korea at
the meeting.
A ministry official said South Korea is pushing ahead with a plan to host an
international meeting of senior officials in the first half of the year to help
tackle piracy off the coast of the African nation.
Somali pirates have carried out more than 100 attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the
Indian Ocean since the start of last year.
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