Japan thanks Korea for helping nationals leave Israel

Foreign Minister Park Jin holds a phone call with his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, at an undisclosed location, Oct. 15, in this photo provided by his office. Yonhap

Japan's top diplomat thanked her Korean counterpart Sunday for helping Japanese nationals depart from Israel last week, Seoul's foreign ministry said, amid the deadly conflict in the country with the Palestinian Hamas militant group.

Yoko Kamikawa made the remark in phone talks with Foreign Minister Park Jin after a Korean military aircraft, carrying 163 Koreans, 51 Japanese and six Singaporeans, arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, from Israel on Saturday.

During the talks, the two sides agreed on close cooperation for the safety of their citizens around the world, with Kamikawa vowing active cooperation from Japan in similar situations in the future, according to the ministry.

Korea dispatched the KC-330 tanker transport aircraft Friday to bring home its nationals who sought to leave Israel after Hamas' deadly surprise attack against the country on Oct. 7.

It marked the first such transportation of Koreans by a military plane and the second flight to bring Koreans home from Israel following the return of 192 people aboard a Korean Air plane Wednesday. (Yonhap)