South Korea says it thwarted pirate attack

SEOUL, April 17 (UPI) -- South Korea said Friday its military thwarted a possible pirate hijacking of a Denmark-registered ship off the coast of Somalia.

The Yonhap News Agency said South Korea's report that one of its naval units drove off suspected pirates in Somali waters comes in the wake of a South Korean warship being deployed to the Gulf of Aden to take part in an anti-piracy campaign.

Col. Lee Hyoung-kook, the Joint Chiefs of Staff's supervisor of the Cheonghae naval unit, confirmed Thursday the warship Munmu the Great was escorting a South Korean chemical transport through Somali waters.

Lee said in a briefing Thursday that while piracy has been on the rise in the Gulf of Aden, the South Korean military unit was fully prepared for its escort mission, The Korea Times said.

"We have trained with various situations in mind. We're optimally ready," he said.

The U.S. Navy has recorded nearly two dozen acts of piracy in waters off Somalia so far this year.