South Korea will revise the travel warning system for conflict-prone regions in Africa and the Middle East, in a move to prevent recurrence of the recent case of a citizen who was rescued after being held captive by militants in the region for a month, a Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
The alert level for the eastern part of Burkina Faso in West Africa will be raised to level three, or red, warning people not to travel there or to leave the country.
Unnamed freed South Korean hostage, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron walk on the tarmac at Villacoublay's military airport, west of Paris, France, Saturday. (Yonhap)
Currently, Korea has a level two, or yellow, travel warning in place for the country advising citizens to avoid it.
“We plan to review the overall travel warning system, including raising public awareness via social media channels about traveling to dangerous nations,” a ministry official told reporters.
For dangerous parts of Benin, the ministry will issue a new travel warning.
On Friday, the Korean woman, two French and one American hostages were freed by an overnight French Special Forces rescue operation in Burkina Faso. She was allegedly kidnapped by a terrorist group along with the American woman when she was heading to Benin from neighboring Burkina Faso.
(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)