On January 21st, the South Korean military successfully carried out a rescue operation for a South Korean chemical freighter that was hijacked by Somali pirates.

The 10-thousand-ton freighter, “Samho Jewelry,” was carrying chemicals from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka when it was hijacked on January 15th

The ship had 21 crew members on board, including eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and eleven people from Myanmar.

The South Korean government swiftly dispatched the Cheonghae Unit to rescue the ship.

During the roughly three-hour-long rescue operation, five of the 13 pirates were captured and the other eight were killed. The entire crew of the Samho Jewelry was rescued, but the freighter’s Korean captain, Seok Hae-kyun, suffered multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to South Korea for treatment and discharged from the hospital in November after nine months.

Meanwhile, the five Somali pirates who were captured were brought to South Korea for trial. The nation’s Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling to sentence the pirate that shot Captain Seok to life in prison. The four other pirates were given sentences of 12 to 15 years.

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