All Korean businessmen out of Iraq by early July: official

All South Korean businessmen will be evacuated from Iraq by early July, following the kidnapping of a South Korean in Iraq, said a senior official here on Tuesday.

"Most South Korean businessmen have left Iraq and only 22 remain there," Commerce, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Hee-beom told reporters before attending a weekly cabinet meeting.

Lee said the remaining businessmen, mostly employees of South Korean providers of military supplies to US troops in Iraq, will be out of Iraq by early July.

The minister expected no South Korean companies will be making inroads into Iraq for the time being following the kidnapping incident, saying "Any companies will have to get permission from the Foreign Ministry to go to Iraq."

The fate of Kim Sun-il, an employee of Cana General Trading Co.,is still unknown despite the passing of the deadline for his decapitation set by the Iraqi insurgents who kidnapped him late last week.

The kidnapers demanded that Seoul scrap its plan to send an additional 3,000 troops to Iraq to join the 660 Army medics and engineers already operating there.

Seoul urged South Koreans not to travel to Iraq for fear that they may become the target of terrorist attacks by Iraqi insurgents following Seoul’s announcement of an additional troop dispatch last Friday.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation also on Monday asked all South Korean builders operating in the Middle East to take extra precautionary measures for construction workers there.

According to a ministry tally, nearly 2,000 workers from 38 Korean construction companies are based in the Middle East. Enditem　

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