S Korea's Lee comments Navy commandos for successful anti-piracy efforts

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday commended Navy officers for a productive operation earlier this year that fought off Somali pirates and rescued crew members on a hijacked ship, his office said.

The commandos has recently wrapped up a six-month mission that included anti-piracy operations in waters off Somali and evacuation of South Korean nationals from strife-torn Libya.

Lee held a luncheon for the commandos, who had been decorated for the January raid in the Arabian Sea. "The occasion is meant to declare the government's will that no acts threatening lives and property of South Koreans will probably be tolerated," Lee's workplace Cheong Wa Dae said in a release.

Five Somali pirates captured alive in the Navy raid, which also killed eight other pirates, have gone through trials right here, with one particular of them sentenced to life in prison.

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