Should Indonesia Learn from South Korea on This?

SEOUL, KOMPAS.com — South Korean commandos stormed a container ship hours after it was attacked by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Thursday and freed all crew members unharmed, officials said.

A second ship, an Italian-flagged vessel with 21 crew, was also hijacked by Somali pirates Thursday, the European Union's anti-piracy task force said.

Hanjin Shipping Co. spokeswoman Sonya Cho said the South Korean commando raid was carried out by the Choi Young, a helicopter-carrying warship with a crew of 200.

She said the pirates who attacked the 75,000-ton Hanjin Tianjin about 250 miles (400 kilometers) east of Yemen's Socotra island were not found by the commandos.

The South Korean ship sustained "some damage" in the attack but the 14 South Korean and six Indonesian crew members retreated to a specially designed shelter and were unhurt, she said.

"Our crew stopped the engine and hid in the citadel to protect themselves from the pirate attack," she said.

Cmdr. Paddy O'Kennedy of the European Union Naval Force said according to his information the ship was attacked, but there was no solid confirmation that pirates had boarded it.

"The Koreans boarded the ship but there were no pirates on board," he said. Hanjin said it had lost contact with the ship earlier in the day after it sent a coded distress message indicating it had been attacked by pirates.

Cho Byung-jae, a spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, confirmed that the Choi Young had been deployed for a possible rescue attempt.

"It has been our government's consistent position that we do not negotiate with pirates," he said. "This will not change."