Somali pirates threatened today to kill any South Korean seamen they take hostage in future in revenge for the killing of eight pirates by South Korean troops who stormed a hijacked vessel.
Pirates from two bases on the Somali coast said they were taking some crews held as hostages off their vessels and moving them inland in case of more rescue attempts by the fleet of foreign warships patrolling off the lawless country's shores.
Somali pirates typically do not harm their captives because they expect to negotiate a lucrative ransom for the release of a vessel.