Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Korean military set to evacuate citizens from war-torn Sudan
Members of the Saudi armed forces pass out chocolates and flowers to Saudi citizens and other nationals upon their arrival in Jeddah, following their rescue from Sudan in this handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency on Saturday. A ship carrying Saudi Arabian citizens and other nationals rescued from battle-scarred Sudan arrived in Jeddah, Saudi television said, in the first announced evacuation of civilians since fighting began. The Korean government has also dispatched a military aircraft and a naval unit to Sudan to evacuate 28 Korean nationals amid an intensifying war between Sudanese armed forces. AP-Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
A total of 28 Korean nationals gathered in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, Sunday, as the Korean military prepares to evacuate them from the conflict-hit African nation.
“All 28 people are safe. We are closely coordinating with the headquarters (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the response team on the evacuation plan,” Korean Ambassador to Sudan Namgoong Hwan was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
“The situation is very volatile here so we don't have a concrete plan yet, but it's possible that we may travel to a nearby airport to board the transport plane.”
The evacuation plan comes in response to the ongoing conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has entered its second week and resulted in over 400 deaths and thousands of injured.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, the C-130J transport plane ― carrying 50 personnel including military and medical staff ― arrived at a U.S. military base in the nearby country of Djibouti, Saturday, for a rescue mission of Korean nationals in Sudan. The airport in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum remains shut down.
The foreign ministry dispatched a response team consisting of nine staff members, led by Choi Young-han, head of the Office of Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs.
In addition to the military plane, the destroyer Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin, of the 304-member Cheonghae Unit, is heading to the waters off Sudan from the Port of Salala in Oman as of Sunday afternoon. The naval unit, operating the country's first overseas anti-piracy mission in waters off Somalia, was dispatched to the region as a backup plan in case evacuees cannot travel by air. However, the navy did not disclose the port of arrival of the destroyer citing security reasons.
Deadly clashes are continuing in the capital and other parts of the nation despite an agreement between the two forces on a 72-hour ceasefire beginning at 6 a.m., Friday (local time) to open humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians.
As of Sunday, Saudi Arabia became the first country announced to have carried out an evacuation plan from Sudan.
According to the Saudi foreign ministry, more than 150 people, including foreign diplomats, arrived in Jeddha the previous day. Among them, 91 were Saudi citizens and another 66 individuals were from 12 countries including Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt.
The United States, for its part, closed down its embassy in Khartoum on Saturday, after which it evacuated some 70 government personnel and dependents assigned to the embassy the next day. The United Kingdom and Japan have also dispatched military transport planes to nearby countries, respectively, in preparation for a rescue operation.