President Lee Myung-bak has instructed the government to bring the five Somali pirates captured alive last Friday to Korea for criminal punishment, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Tuesday.

“The president instructed officials to bring the pirates here for punishment. Therefore, the possibility of them being handed over to a third country is not high,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Another presidential office official said dealing with the captured pirates was a separate issue from ensuring the safe return of another South Korean vessel still being held by Somali pirates.

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin floated the idea of exchanging the pirates for the 43 crew of the Geummi 305 ship, which was hijacked on Oct. 9 off the Kenyan coast, during his meeting with parliamentary defense committee members on Monday.

But the Ministry of National Defense withdrew the idea on Tuesday, stressing the government plans to have the pirates face punishment in Korea.

“(Exchanging the pirates for the hostages) could be a good idea. But it is just an idea,” spokesperson Kim Min-seok said in a regular press briefing. “It is not appropriate to utilize wrongdoers (for any other purposes).”

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan reiterated the government’s stance that Seoul will not engage in any direct negotiations with pirates, apparently dismissing the possibility of the government officially proposing swapping the pirates with the hostages.

“Under the principle that we will not directly engage in negotiations with pirates, we are striving to devise possible ways (to release the crewmembers of the Geummi 305),” he said during a press briefing.

The government had initially consulted with several countries adjacent to Somalia with a view to handing the pirates over to them to face trial there, as bringing them to Korea would take much time and money.

But the countries appeared reluctant to accept the pirates due to costs and a lack of facilities to house them. Should the pirates be brought here, they would be put on trial under international law and the country’s penal code.

Following the unprecedented military operation staged by South Korean naval commandos in the Indian Ocean, which rescued all 21 crew members of the Samho Jewelry freighter, calls have mounted for the government to rescue the seamen of the Geummi 305.

The crew of the 241-ton fishing vessel consists of two South Koreans, two Chinese and 39 Kenyans.

Negotiations over their release have been stalled since the Korean owner of the ship was driven into insolvency shortly after the seizure. Pirates are now demanding about one-10th of their initial ransom of $6 million in light of the bankruptcy, according to Kim Jong-gyu, a South Korean who has engaged in the negotiations with the pirates.

Some government officials were skeptical about exchanging the pirates for the hostages as it is hard to verify which piracy group is holding them captive.

Experts estimate that more than 1,000 armed men in at least five different groups ― including local fishermen, former militiamen and ship technicians ― are engaged in piracy.

Therefore, it is difficult to verify whether the captured pirates belong to the same organization holding the crewmembers of the Geummi 305 captive.

Some observers also said that making any deals with the criminal body ― including the exchanging of the pirates for the hostages ― could undermine the international image of South Korea, which has vowed not to engage in negotiations with pirates.

The absence of a functioning central administration in Somalia makes it even harder for countries to rescue their citizens from pirates. Since the 1991 ousting of Dictator Mohammed Siad Barre, the country has been considered a failed state, beset by unceasing conflicts stemming from bitter clan rivalries.

Kim Jong-gyu told the Yonhap news agency that exchanging the pirates for the crewmembers would be difficult, emphasizing that the only thing the pirates want is the ransom, not the captured pirates.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik instructed government officials to devise “all possible means” to rescue the crew of the Geummi 305 during the Cabinet meeting.

Somali pirates were said to be holding 28 vessels and around 600 seamen as of December.

The Samho Jewelry ship, currently being escorted by the 4,500-ton Choi Young destroyer, is heading toward a port in the Omani capital of Muscat. They are expected to arrive there on Thursday.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)