South Korea deferred a decision on whether to ban its citizens from visiting Libya due to concern that the move overly restricts people's right to travel freely and could hurt the country's business interests in the North African nation, an official said Tuesday.
The government held an interagency meeting to discuss upgrading its travel advisory on Libya to a complete ban for the safety of its citizens in consideration of the bloodshed gripping the North African country, but could not reach a consensus, the foreign ministry official said.
Some participants voiced concern that a complete travel ban would restrict people's right to move and could have negative effects on South Korean firms operating in Libya, the official said.
"We decided to review the matter again at an early date," the official said.
A Level 4 travel ban would require all South Koreans wishing to enter or stay in Libya to get individual approval from the government. Those who do not comply would be punishable by law with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 3 million won (US$2,680).
Weeks of bloody clashes between protesters and government forces in Libya are estimated to have killed about 1,000 people and rendered about 200,000 refugees as of Saturday, according to the ministry.
Some 110 South Koreans now remain in Libya according to their wishes, down from about 1,400 South Koreans at the start of the anti-government protests. Most of the South Koreans who were in Libya have fled the North African country over the past few weeks, taking various routes by land, air and sea.