kim han-ul, arirang news, gangjeong. the latest contingent of korean troops... deployed off the coast of somalia to tackle piracy... has begun operations. korea's joint chiefs of staff said tuesday... that the 44- hundred ton destroyer munmu the great,... the eighth contingent of the cheonghae unit,... arrived in oman on saturday and began its mission of protecting civilian ships from pirates... and providing support to other nearby vessels. the destroyer, carrying 3-hundred military personnel, made a stop in singapore and in the united arab emirates for a meeting to exchange piracy- related information and then a joint military exercise. colombian president juan manuel santos has called for his country and korea to sign a free trade agreement as soon as possible... stressing that a trade pact would greatly boost commercial ties. in an interview with yonhap news agency on tuesday... ahead of his official visit to korea this week, santos expressed hope that the two countries could conclude negotiations on an fta by year's

scores of gangjeong residents and activists were ordered to leave the premises... and stop disrupting construction by block the entrance of the construction site. thirty protestors were taken to the police station and three were arrested... as the navy came in with two bulldozers to build the fence. the korean military has broken ground on an elementary and a high school in pyeongtaek, gyeonggi province,... in the first concrete step to move the us military headquarters out of seoul. kim han-ul has the details. friday's ceremony marked the very first vertical construction project of relocating the yongsan garrison in seoul to pyeongtaek.this is the first step in completing the yongsan relocation program by 2016. korean "this project will contribute to the rok-us alliance and gives us a chance to show the us side that construction is starting on schedule." around one-hundred distinguished guests and officials came to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony... including south korea's defense minister kim kwan-jin, and the commander of us forces korea, general james thurman. although south