Korea's 2nd Nepal relief team to return; efforts to locate 9 missing Koreans to continue
Summary
Korea will keep a joint government response team in Nepal to continue searching for nine missing Koreans after massive floods and landslides hit Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border last month. The second Korea Disaster Relief Team contingent will finish its seven-day mission and return home later Thursday. The team will work with Nepalese authorities and support the families of the missing. Seoul said the search has so far found no signs of them.
Key Facts
- The nine missing Koreans include six Doosan Enerbility employees and three Korea South-East Power workers.
- They went missing on Aug. 26 while working at a hydropower plant construction site in Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border.
- The remaining response team will have eight members: three from the foreign ministry, two from the National Fire Agency and three from the National Police Agency.
Members of the second contingent of South Korea's Korea Disaster Relief Team push a vehicle stuck in mud while traveling to a village in Nepal, Monday (local time). Yonhap
Korea will maintain a joint government response team in Nepal to continue efforts to locate nine Korean nationals who have remained missing since massive floods hit the country last month, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.
The move comes as the second contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) is set to wrap up its seven-day mission later in the day and return home, in line with a decision made by a joint public-private emergency relief council last week, according to the ministry.
Nine Koreans — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three of Korea South-East Power — went missing Aug. 26 after massive floods and landslides struck Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border while they were working at a hydropower plant construction site.
The government response team, which was dispatched earlier for search-and-rescue operations separately from the KDRT, will remain in Nepal and work closely with Nepalese authorities, while also supporting the families of the missing, the ministry said.
The team will consist of eight members — three from the ministry, two from the National Fire Agency and three from the National Police Agency. Additional members can be dispatched if needed, it added.
"The two firefighters were part of the second KDRT contingent but have decided to remain in Nepal as members of the response team. The team will continue efforts to determine the whereabouts of the missing Koreans," a ministry official said.
The three police officers will continue working with Nepal's Central Forensic Science Laboratory, where Korea has provided four rapid DNA analysis devices, to assist in identifying victims.
The first 44-member KDRT contingent was dispatched to Nepal earlier this month for a 10-day mission. Officials have said operations have been hampered by rugged terrain, weather-related risks and the potential for infectious diseases, with no signs of the missing found so far.
Nepal has since shifted its focus from search and rescue to reconstruction and recovery, while Seoul has said it will continue supporting efforts to locate the missing Koreans in cooperation with Nepalese authorities and corporate rescue teams.
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