The World - News from Oct. 30, 1987

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said it spoke by telephone to one of its diplomats who had been held hostage in Lebanon, but officials would not confirm reports that he had been released. Do Chae Sung “is alive and in relatively good health,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Seoul. Citing his safety, officials declined to say where Do was and who might be holding him. Do, 45, the first secretary at the South Korean Embassy in Beirut, was abducted Jan. 31, 1986, with two groups subsequently claiming responsibility. Nabih Berri, leader of the Shia Muslim militia Amal, said Wednesday that Do had been released after payment of at least $1 million in ransom.