Four South Korean sailors who were freed last week by Somali pirates after more than 19 months of captivity returned home Wednesday.

They were kidnapped by Somali pirates on April 30, 2011 with the tanker MT Gemini and set free on Saturday after the Singapore-based owner of the ship paid an unspecified amount of ransom, according to Seoul officials said.

The freed sailors underwent medical checkups at a hospital on the Kenyan island of Mombasa and arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, early Wednesday morning, they said.

After making brief remarks at the airport, they headed home to Busan, a southern port city, according to the officials. (Yonhap News)