The captain of a ship hijacked by Somali pirates and rescued by the Navy last month regained consciousness 13 days after being shot in the stomach by pirates during a military operation, hospital officials said Thursday.
The 11,500-ton Samho Jewelry and its 21 crew members, including eight South Koreans, were hijacked in the western Indian Ocean on Jan. 15. They were freed on Jan. 21 after a daring commando raid.
The entire crew was rescued alive and in relatively good health and eight pirates were killed in the firefight.
Captain Seok Hae-kyun was seriously wounded and underwent surgery twice in Oman but has remained unconscious for days. He was brought back to South Korea late last week to undergo another emergency surgery at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, south of the capital city.
Seok slowly regained consciousness around 10 a.m. and his vital signs such as thrombocyte levels have returned to normal, said hospital officials.
"We tried to remove an artificial respiratory tube from his bronchus and we've seen him open his eyes," said an official. "But I can't say he fully came around. He still falls asleep repeatedly. We need more time to remove the tube."
The rescued crew members returned home on Wednesday and were interviewed at the Coast Guard office to help in the ongoing investigation to prosecute the five captured pirates.
The Somali pirates, brought to South Korea last month, have been under investigation on charges of hijacking the ship and attempting to murder the captain.