Yemen’s Huthis seize two S Korean, one Saudi vessel

SEOUL: Two out of three vessels seized by Yemen’s Huthi rebels on the weekend are South Korean, Seoul officials said Tuesday, as are two out of 16 people captured.

The vessels -- a South Korean dredger being towed by one South Korean and one Saudi-flagged tug -- were seized by the Huthis at the southern end of the Red Sea on Sunday, according to Seoul’s foreign ministry.

The incident follows a lull in Huthi attacks on Saudi Arabia as one Riyadh official said the kingdom had established an “open channel” with the Iran-backed rebels. A total of 16 crew members, two of them South Koreans, were taken to the port of Salif port where they were being held by the Huthis, the ministry added.