AliBabaIncorporated
09-09-2004, 10:52 AM
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200409/kt2004090716403110440.htm
Seoul Working to Confirm Ethnic Koreans Among Hostage-Takers
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
The South Korean government is employing all possible means to confirm the report that ethnic Koreans were involved in last week’s school hostage siege in Russia.
The government urged Korean citizens residing in Russia to take measures to cope with possible revenge attacks following the brutal events in the nation’s south.
The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry issued a warning through its embassy in Moscow that Korean residents and travelers in Russia should remain vigilant and report any difficulties in times of emergency to its missions there, a ministry official said.
"We’re preparing proper measures to prevent possible attacks against our people there," Lee Yang-gu, director of the ministry’s Russian Affairs Division, told The Korea Times.
Despite efforts to establish an exact picture of the situation in Russia, Seoul was taking a low-key approach as any clumsy action could lead to diplomatic problems and put nationals at greater risk.
Reporting about the hostage-takers, local news agencies, including RIA-Novosti, have quoted Sergei Fridinsky, the country’s deputy prosecutor, as saying that "there were Chechens, Ingush, Tatars, Kazakhs and Koreans among the attackers."
When they referred to "Koreans," they meant ethnic Koreans of Russia, better known as "Kareiski," which is translated here in the Korean language as "Koryo-in," according to sources.
The Kareiski were people of the Choson Kingdom who moved to the far-eastern part of Russia during the period from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. They were forced to move to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin in 1937 and now about 470,000 are estimated to live in Russia and the CIS, including in the states of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
"They are basically Russian nationals, not Koreans," Lee said. "So it is not desirable for us to deal with the issue directly with Russia at the government level."
The school hostage in North Ossetia, Russia, was brought to an end by Russian forces, leaving over 350 people dead and more than 400 hospitalized, most of them children.
Seoul Working to Confirm Ethnic Koreans Among Hostage-Takers
By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
The South Korean government is employing all possible means to confirm the report that ethnic Koreans were involved in last week’s school hostage siege in Russia.
The government urged Korean citizens residing in Russia to take measures to cope with possible revenge attacks following the brutal events in the nation’s south.
The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry issued a warning through its embassy in Moscow that Korean residents and travelers in Russia should remain vigilant and report any difficulties in times of emergency to its missions there, a ministry official said.
"We’re preparing proper measures to prevent possible attacks against our people there," Lee Yang-gu, director of the ministry’s Russian Affairs Division, told The Korea Times.
Despite efforts to establish an exact picture of the situation in Russia, Seoul was taking a low-key approach as any clumsy action could lead to diplomatic problems and put nationals at greater risk.
Reporting about the hostage-takers, local news agencies, including RIA-Novosti, have quoted Sergei Fridinsky, the country’s deputy prosecutor, as saying that "there were Chechens, Ingush, Tatars, Kazakhs and Koreans among the attackers."
When they referred to "Koreans," they meant ethnic Koreans of Russia, better known as "Kareiski," which is translated here in the Korean language as "Koryo-in," according to sources.
The Kareiski were people of the Choson Kingdom who moved to the far-eastern part of Russia during the period from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. They were forced to move to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin in 1937 and now about 470,000 are estimated to live in Russia and the CIS, including in the states of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
"They are basically Russian nationals, not Koreans," Lee said. "So it is not desirable for us to deal with the issue directly with Russia at the government level."
The school hostage in North Ossetia, Russia, was brought to an end by Russian forces, leaving over 350 people dead and more than 400 hospitalized, most of them children.