S Korea 'strongly' condemns Syria over massacre of civilians

South Korea on Tuesday "strongly" condemned the Syrian government over a weekend massacre of more than 100 civilians in the town of Houla, stressing that those responsible for the killing must be held accountable. "Our government strongly condemned the indiscriminate killing of many civilians in the village of Houla by artillery shelling of a residential neighborhood, shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse," foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said in a statement , relayed by the S.Korean /Yonhap/ news agency today. Foreign media reports say 108 people, including 49 children, were killed and hundreds more wounded in the massacre that took place late Friday through early Saturday. Earlier Sunday the U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned the Syrian government "in the strongest possible terms" for the heavy-weapon and "outrageous" attacks on the town of Houla. South Korea "fully supported" the Security Council statement that called for those responsible to be held accountable, Cho said. More than 9,000 people have died in Syria in the past year because of the violent crackdown by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the U.N. said earlier.