Korean exodus from Libya intensifies

By Lee Tae-hoon

As the chaos in Libya escalated, efforts to evacuate by sea, air and land the hundreds of Korean nationals stranded in the war-torn country intensified over the weekend.

The government recommended companies with operations there to pull all of their employees out in a meeting with 13 Korean construction firms Sunday.

Daewoo Engineering and Construction and Hyundai Engineering and Construction said that they would pull out almost all of their workers from the North African country.

The move came as the government was evacuating 78 Korean workers in eastern Libya to Tunisia by land, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) told The Korea Times.

She added that, in a joint effort between the Korean Embassy in Egypt and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, 60 Korean construction workers and 208 foreign nationals managed to leave Libya in an Egypt Air chartered plane.

“Egypt Air almost canceled the flight because of the worsening situation in Libya, but our embassy in Egypt and Doosan convinced them to fly,” MOFAT said in a press release.

“We will keep evacuating our nationals on chartered flights or ships.”

The flight took off from Surte, central Libya, at 11:15 a.m. and landed at around 1:55 p.m. in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

The ministry said some are expected to come back to Korea, but others plan to stay in Cairo or Dubai until the situation significantly improves to return to Libya.

Earlier in the day, some 30 Korean nationals also fled Libya on a Turkish military vessel, following Seoul’s request to Ankara to assist its rescue efforts.

The Ministry of National Defense said the vessel is scheduled to arrive at Port Marmara in southern Turkey around 3 p.m. (KST) today.

“Our military attache in Turkey requested the Command of the Turkish Armed Forces to help evacuate Korean nationals there, Thursday,” a defense official said.

“We followed the government’s decision to use all means possible to safely pull our nationals out of Libya.”

Another defense official noted that the Choi Young, a Korean destroyer that led the rescue operation of the hijacked freighter Samho Jewelry last month, will likely reach Libyan waters either Wednesday or Thursday to assist in the evacuation.

The 4,500-ton warship is capable of carrying up to some 1,000 people, including its crew.

On Saturday night, a second evacuation flight chartered by the government brought 235 Korean workers and three foreigners to Seoul from Tripoli International Airport.

On Friday, the first chartered plane brought 198 Koreans from protest engulfed Libya to Cairo hours before the arrival of the second government-chartered plane.

According to MOFAT’s estimate, of 1,351 Korean construction workers in Libya, 514 had yet to flee the strife-torn country as of Sunday.