South Korea will dispatch a Navy destroyer to Libya on Thursday as the country starts to evacuate South Koreans from the African country amid a worsening security situation there, the foreign ministry said.

The dispatch came after the government issued a top-tier travel alert for the violence-ravaged country last week, requiring South Koreans based in Libya to evacuate.

"The (4,400-ton) Munmu the Great will leave Oman's Port of Salalah in the afternoon to arrive in the sea of Libya around mid-August with a mission to evacuate South Koreans," a foreign ministry official said.

The Navy ship had been carrying out a military mission in the Gulf of Aden, he said, adding that it has yet to be decided at which Libyan port the ship will pick up South Koreans. (Yonhap)