Who are the nine Koreans missing after the Nepal flash flood?

They include six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three workers from Korea South-East Power Co. They went missing after the flood struck the north-central Himalayan border area of Nepal.

Why has the helicopter search in Nepal not been straightforward?

Flight authorization has still not been granted, and ground conditions remain fluid as Nepali authorities oversee the rescue effort. On Saturday, the helicopter could not land, so the team had to search visually from the air.

What happened to other Doosan workers during the Nepal flood rescue?

Ten other Doosan workers who had been isolated at a different location were moved to safety. The ministry also said Sunday’s search area would be larger than the previous day’s.

Korea employs helicopters for 2nd day to search for 9 missing nationals following massive flood

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Summary

Korea plans to keep using helicopters Sunday in Nepal to search for nine missing nationals after a catastrophic flash flood, the foreign ministry said. Two helicopters are scheduled, one chartered by the government’s rapid response team and the other by Doosan Enerbility. Flight authorization has not yet been granted, and Nepali authorities are still overseeing rescue decisions. The missing include six Doosan Enerbility employees and three Korea South-East Power Co. workers.

Key Facts

The missing Koreans were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in Nepal’s Rasuwa district when the floods hit Wednesday.
A government-chartered helicopter carrying four rapid response team members flew twice from Kathmandu on Saturday and was reportedly the only non-Nepali aircraft cleared to fly that day.
The helicopter reportedly failed to land, so the search was carried out visually and the footage from the flight was analyzed.
Ten other Doosan workers who had been isolated at a different location were moved to safety.
A ministry official said Sunday’s search area would be larger than the previous day’s.

By Yonhap

Published Aug 30, 2026 5:11 pm KST

Korean rescue officials get on a helicopter at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Saturday, to conduct search operations. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The government plans to continue using helicopters in search operations Sunday in Nepal to locate nine Koreans who have gone missing after a catastrophic flash flood devastated the Himalayan country, the foreign ministry said.

Two helicopters are scheduled to be used: one chartered by the government's rapid response team and the other chartered by Doosan Enerbility.

Flight authorization has yet to be granted, however, as ground conditions and decisions by Nepali authorities overseeing the rescue effort remain fluid.

On Saturday, a government-charted helicopter carrying four rapid response team members flew twice from Kathmandu toward the flood site, becoming reportedly the only non-Nepali aircraft cleared to fly that day.

The helicopter reportedly failed to land, and the search was instead conducted visually, with footage from the flight analyzed.

Six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three of Korea South-East Power Co. remain missing since the massive floods struck Nepal's north-central Himalayan border area Wednesday.

They had been working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in the Rasuwa district when the floods hit the region.

Ten other Doosan workers who had been isolated at a different location have been moved to safety.

A ministry official said Sunday's search area would be larger than the previous day's.

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