Only hours after Jo Dae-shik, deputy minister for planning and coordination at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to Libya, was called to an emergency meeting in the early morning of Jan. 20, he was on a plane bound for Tripoli to secure the release of a senior Korean government official kidnapped in Libya.

Days later, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency chief Han Seok-woo was freed.

Jo and Libyan Charge d’Affaires Farhat Abdussalam had a lot to celebrate on the third anniversary of the Libyan Revolution with dozens of foreign envoys, government officials and friends of Libya in Seoul on Monday.

Three years ago, opponents of strongman Moammar Gadhafi began their so-called Day of Rage against Gadhafi and his security forces that brought on a wave of violence and unrest that swept the nation and eventually led to the cathartic end to the dictator’s 41-year reign.

Although Gadhafi is gone, the country remains restive with bands of militias and tribal allegiances obstructing the way forward. Kidnappings and violence are widespread.

“Although the head of KOTRA was kidnapped in Libya by unidentified kidnappers, he was released just three days after the incident thanks to the Libyan government’s wholehearted effort and support,” Jo said at the reception celebrating the Libyan Revolution.

The Libyan government has made assurances to protect South Koreans working in the country even as it struggles to organize national elections slated for this year.

“As you know, there is a price for democracy and procedural democratic rule,” said Abdussalam. “The democratic process in the rest of the world shows that the democracy transformation often took a long time to develop.”

Violence has scared off many from investing in Libya, as noted in a report by The Economist in October, but South Korea is one of a handful of countries testing the waters there.

Since the revolution, Seoul has become a major player in the North African nation. In 2011, one-third of foreign investment in Libya came from South Korea. Two-way trade has shot back up, reaching $1.8 billion in 2013. That surpasses its previous high of $1.4 billion in 2010, before the civil war.

The Libyan Embassy here has kept step with burgeoning trade and investment ties by expanding its staff to about 13 from just five people and moving into larger facilities in July 2013.

(ephilip2011@heraldcorp.com)