Seoul dispatches additional rapid-response team members

Members of a joint rapid-response team composed of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Fire Agency and the Korean National Police Agency prepare to depart at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport on Thursday, as nine South Koreans remain missing following floods and landslides near a hydropower plant construction site in Nepal. [Yonhap]
Members of a joint rapid-response team composed of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Fire Agency and the Korean National Police Agency prepare to depart at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport on Thursday, as nine South Koreans remain missing following floods and landslides near a hydropower plant construction site in Nepal. [Yonhap]

Nepal has agreed to accept limited foreign assistance in its disaster response after catastrophic flooding struck the Himalayan region along its border with China.

Nepal's government decided to allow support from four countries — India, China, Australia and South Korea — but only in three specific areas: rescue operations inside hydropower plant tunnels in the affected zone, DNA analysis and forensic investigations, the Kathmandu Post reported Saturday (local time).

The decision marked a reversal from Friday, when Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would not immediately accept international help for search-and-rescue operations. The Kathmandu Post said the government changed course under diplomatic pressure from countries whose nationals are among the missing.

A senior Nepali government official said the country had faced "enormous pressure from nations whose citizens went missing in the floods to allow at least search-and-rescue teams and some experts to enter the site," according to local media.

More countries — including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — had requested permission to take part in search-and-rescue operations, but Nepal declined those requests.

South Korea sent a joint government rapid-response team to Nepal on Thursday. The 11-member team is led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' representative for overseas Korean protection and consular affairs, and includes four Foreign Ministry officials, five fire department personnel and two police officers. The ministry plans to dispatch one additional Foreign Ministry official and eight National Fire Agency personnel on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke by phone with his Nepali counterpart on Thursday, urging cooperation to ensure the South Korean rapid-response team can conduct smooth search-and-rescue operations for the nine South Koreans who have lost contact.

All nine missing South Koreans were working on the hydropower plant construction project — six are employees of Doosan Enerbility and three work for Korea South-East Power. The government and the companies have also chartered helicopters for use in the search. Korea South-East Power dispatched a chartered helicopter to the flood-affected area on Friday but was unable to locate the missing workers.

The floods that struck the Bagmati Province area in northern Nepal on Wednesday have killed 586 people so far, with 2,478 still reported missing.


nyang@heraldcorp.com