378 evacuated Afghans arrive in South Korea
Family members of Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their country arrive at Incheon International Airport, Thursday. A total of 378 Afghans arrived in South Korea on Thursday as part of Seoul's efforts to evacuate locals who worked at Korea's embassy and other government facilities in the war-torn nation, as well as their families. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
A total of 378 Afghans arrived in South Korea on Thursday as part of Seoul's efforts to evacuate Afghans who worked at Korea's embassy there and other government facilities in the war-torn nation as well as their families, who feared for their safety after the Taliban's seizure of power.
A KC-330 tanker transport aircraft carrying the evacuees landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 4:24 p.m., after departing from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad early in the morning, the foreign ministry said.
Of a total of 391 people to be airlifted, 378 were on board.
The 13 others left Islamabad at around 7 p.m. (Seoul time) aboard a separate military plane, expected to arrive in Korea early Friday afternoon, the ministry said.
The 13 people, members of three families, had remained in Islamabad due to a lack of seats on the first plane and other circumstances.
Family members of Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in Afghanistan arrive at Incheon International Airport, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
About 180, or around half, of the total evacuees are under the age of 10, including 100 infants, a defense ministry official said, adding that the evacuees are comprised of 76 families.
The evacuees are medical professionals, vocational trainers, IT experts and interpreters who worked for Korea's embassy, now-closed hospitals and a job training center that had been run by the country's overseas aid institution, KOICA.
The evacuees had first been airlifted to Islamabad from Kabul on Monday and Wednesday.
The Afghans will be coming in not as refugees but as "persons of special merit" and will be granted short-term visas which will be switched to longer-term ones, allowing them to find jobs.
Upon arrival, they will be tested for COVID-19 and be placed under quarantine at a government-designated facility in the provincial county of Jincheon, 91 kilometers southeast of Seoul. They will also undergo screening again to confirm their identities.
The evacuation got underway after Seoul closed its embassy in Afghanistan and evacuated its diplomatic staff to Qatar, as the security conditions worsened amid the ongoing pullout of U.S. troops and the Taliban's return to power.
Family members of Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their country board a bus at Incheon International Airport, Thursday, upon their arrival in Korea. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Announcing the operation, codenamed Operation Miracle, South Korea has stressed its moral responsibility to help the Afghan people facing serious security risks after the Taliban took back the country.
South Korea conducted various military and relief operations, including Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) activities, from 2010 to 2014. The PRT offered medical services, aid for agricultural development and vocational and police training.
"The success of Operation Miracle was possible thanks to full cooperation from our U.S. ally," the defense ministry said in a release.
The U.S. provided its military aircraft to transport South Korean embassy officials from Qatar to Kabul, and promptly granted prior permission for South Korean military planes' take-off and landing at the Kabul airport, according to the ministry.
"The defense ministry will continue cooperation for the Afghans' stable resettlement in the country, providing our logistics resources and medical support when necessary," it said. (Yonhap)