Gov't encourages Korean residents in Ukraine to evacuate
Foreign Ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam speaks during a press briefing at the ministry headquarters in central Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis
By Jung Da-min
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has raised the travel-alert level for 12 provinces in southeastern Ukraine to Level 3, the second-highest in the four-tier system.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry held an emergency online meeting with the Korean Embassy in Ukraine and other ministries to discuss how to protect Korean residents there amid a heightening chance of a Russian military invasion.
The ministry decided to issue a Level 3 travel alert for the 12 provinces, including the country's capital Kiev, Volyn, Rivne, Zhitomir, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Odessa and Mykolaiv. The Level 3 alert, or red alert of recommending withdrawal, had already been effective in three other provinces ― Crimea, Donetsk and Lugansk.
The foreign ministry encouraged Korean residents in the 15 provinces to leave Ukraine for other safe areas as soon as possible unless they are staying there for an urgent issue. It also recommended Korean residents in other regions of Ukraine where travel is banned under the special travel warning for the COVID-19 situation do the same, considering the variability of situation there.
The Level 3 travel alert for recommending withdrawal is a level just below the highest Level 4 alert for total ban of travel where Korean residents in the designated region are ordered to evacuate immediately.
The presidential National Security Council was held to discuss the Ukraine situation the same day, presided over by National Security Advisor Suh Hoon.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Service have also been closely watching the situation in Ukraine for over a month and have taken safety measures for the Korean people there in preparation for a possible actual military clash,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, and the National Intelligence Service are in-depth discussions with the United States on this issue,” Park said.