By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter


Fourteen South Korean vehicles carrying aid shipments for the Iraqis have been seized by unidentified militias in the war-torn country since last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday.

No South Koreans were captured or detained during the seizures, a ministry official told reporters.

The trucks were loaded with about $3.5 million worth of computers and Internet equipment bound for an Iraqi national university, the ministry said.

They were not protected by insurance, making it possible for South Korea to lose them all.

The vehicles were ambushed at Ar-Ramadi, 150 kilometers west of Baghdad, on two occasions, Sept. 19 and 21. They were on their way from the Jordanian port of Aqaba to Baghdad, the ministry said.

The trucks belong to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a ministry-affiliated organization that provides humanitarian assistance and other support to underdeveloped and developing countries.

The KOICA said it will continue aiding Iraq despite the incidents.

Upon the late announcement of the seizure, the ministry said that any prompt action by Seoul might only have deteriorated the situation as such move could have irritated the militias.

``The government has maintained quiet diplomacy by asking the Baghdad government for an early settlement of the seizures,’’ a ministry official told reporters, requesting not to be named.

Seoul will request that Baghdad beef up security measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents in the future, the official said.

Chang Ki-ho, Seoul’s ambassador to Baghdad, said that it was likely to take some time to solve the problem.

``We are continuing to urge the Iraqi government to resolve the issue as soon as possible,’’ he told Yonhap news agency. ``But it is expected to take some time due to a lack of security there.’’

The South Korean military said it is gathering intelligence to find which insurgent group conducted the seizure and for what purpose.

im@koreatimes.co.kr