South Korea moves Libya embassy staff to Tunisia after attack

South Korea has temporarily relocated its Tripoli embassy staff to Tunisia, following an attack by gunmen this week that killed two local security guards, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Two embassy staff members, and one family member, were flown to Tunisia from the Libyan capital. A temporary office will continue to provide consular service to the 32 South Korean nationals who remain in Libya, the ministry said in a statement.

Gunmen fired shots at the South Korean embassy in Tripoli on Sunday, killing two local security guards and wounding another. There were no South Korean casualties.

The ministry said the decision to relocate its mission was prompted by the heightened risk to its diplomats. It will later review the possibility of re-establishing a presence in Tripoli, it added.

South Korea was one of the few countries that still had an embassy in Tripoli.

Since Muammar Gaddafi's fall in 2011, Libya has been caught up in a conflict between two rival governments and armed forces who have attacked towns allied with their opponents.