Planes, warship to bring S. Koreans home from Libya

SEOUL: South Korea was working Friday to get its citizens out of strife-torn Libya by land, sea and air, with a navy ship headed for the North African nation and two charter flights on the way.

A chartered Korean Air B-747 jumbo jet with a capacity of 330 was scheduled to arrive in Tripoli Friday evening Libya time, the transport ministry said in a statement.

A delayed EgyptAir chartered B-777 with a capacity of 260 was due to land early Friday Libya time.

A South Korean warship on anti-piracy duty off Somalia has been diverted to help the evacuation and was expected to arrive next week, the defence ministry said.

An estimated 1,400 South Koreans were working in Libya, mostly for Korean construction firms, before the unrest began. Some have already left overland and it was unclear whether all the remainder want to pull out.

A spate of attacks on the construction sites heightened fears for Koreans there, and Seoul has urged all citizens without urgent business to leave.

Seoul officials say anti-government protests appear to have fuelled the construction site attacks, which are thought to have been sparked off by discontent over the country's housing policy.

The transport ministry said some 53 Koreans had crossed into Egypt after driving to the border, while 24 others working in Benghazi took a ferry to Turkey. (AFP)