Nine months after their abduction near the Kenyan border town of Moyale, Marsabet County, two South Korean nationals have appeared in a newly released video showing them alive but in distress inside Somalia.
The video, which surfaced on social media on Monday, features humanitarian worker and reportedly missionaries David Ian Lee and his mother-in-law Hiwi Sokk Cheon, who were kidnapped on August 12, 2024, by suspected Al-Shabaab terrorists from their home in the village of Odda, near the Kenya–Ethiopia border.
In the three-minute footage reviewed by WAJ, David Ian Lee is seen pleading for help from the South Korean government. His voice trembling, Lee describes their situation as dire.
“We have lived in fear and uncertainty for many days. We are in a dangerous situation. We are innocent civilians,” he says. Sitting beside him, Cheon appears visibly shaken but remains silent.
Lee appeals to South Korean authorities to intervene urgently to secure their safe release and allow them to return home.
Kenyan security officials believe the video was released by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to pressure the South Korean government into entering negotiations.
The kidnapping sparked a major investigation last year, resulting in the arrest of eight suspects, including six Ethiopian nationals. The suspects remain in custody as investigations continue.
The South Korean Embassy in Nairobi has not yet issued an official statement in response to the newly released video.