SEOUL: South Korea today issued a temporary travel advisory for Russia following suspected racist attacks that left one South Korean student dead and another seriously injured.

The foreign ministry said on its website

it has decided to place the country under a

level one travel alert until May 31, meaning Korean tourists and visitors are advised to

take extra precautions.

Ministry officials quoted by Yonhap news agency said the temporary warning was inevitable due to the possibility of hate crimes by ultra-rightists against foreigners before and after April 20, Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

On Tuesday the ministry summoned

the Russian ambassador to complain

about the attacks.

Last month a 22-year-old South Korean student was killed by a group of youths in the Siberian city of Barnaul.

On Sunday a 29-year-old South Korean student was critically wounded in an attack by two masked people on the street in Moscow.

South Korean media have said the Siberian incident seemed to be racially motivated and they suspected the Moscow attack was as well. A posting on the ministry website urged Koreans to take care in Russia and not to go out in the streets alone.

Racist attacks against foreigners of non-European appearance occur regularly in Russia, though authorities say the number dropped by half last year amid a successful crackdown on extremist groups.