By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon on Monday asked for help from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to win the release of a South Korean hostage held by Iraqi militants.

``While talking over the phone with Powell, Ban sought advice and asked for diplomatic cooperation,’’ a ministry spokesperson told reporters during a news conference.

Meanwhile, Chung Moon-soo, Seoul’s top envoy to Qatar, pleaded with the Iraqi insurgents to free the South Korean interpreter on the Qatar-based Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera.

Appearing in the four-minute live interview, Chung underlined, ``Korean people and the Korean government join the hostage’s family in their prayer for the innocent man’s release without any harm.

``Our additional troop dispatch will also focus on humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people and the reconstruction of Iraq.’’

The move came after Iraqi insurgent group Monotheism and Jihad gave Seoul a 24-hour deadline to scrap its plan to deploy troops to northern Iraq through a video delivered to Al-Jazeera Sunday.

Ban, who arrived in Qingdao, China on Sunday to attend a meeting of Asian foreign ministers, also sought advice from Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi. Several Japanese citizens have been kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents and later released unharmed.

Ban said he will seek help from the U.S., international human rights groups and religious organizations to secure the hostage’s release. The minister will cut his trip short by a day and return home today.

In a collaborative effort, Vice Foreign Minister Choi Young-jin asked for the cooperation of neighboring Arab countries to get the 33-year-old Korean hostage back safely during a meeting with 12 ambassadors from Arab states here.

Saleh M. Al-Rajhy, Saudi Arabian ambassador to Seoul, was quoted by the ministry as saying, ``Although it is difficult to say what our country will do at the moment, we will do our best if the Korean government formally asks for help.’’

Ahmed Boutache, Algerian Ambassador to Seoul, said the South Korean hostage should not be sacrificed, adding that the incident is unfortunate.

yoodh@koreatmes.co.kr