Team departs on military transport at midnight; joint mission by Foreign Ministry, KOICA and National Fire Agency

Members of South Korea's Korea Disaster Relief Team board a KC-330 Cygnus multirole tanker transport aircraft at Seoul Airport on Wednesday before departing for Nepal, where severe flooding has caused widespread damage. [Ministry of National Defense]
Members of South Korea's Korea Disaster Relief Team board a KC-330 Cygnus multirole tanker transport aircraft at Seoul Airport on Wednesday before departing for Nepal, where severe flooding has caused widespread damage. [Ministry of National Defense]

South Korea has dispatched its Korea Disaster Relief Team to Nepal to respond to catastrophic flooding in the Rasuwa region in the country's north-central area and to search for Korean nationals who have gone missing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the team, led by Lee Gyu-ho, director general for development cooperation, departed for Nepal at midnight Tuesday aboard a KC-330 Cygnus military tanker transport aircraft.

The 44-member team was jointly assembled by the Foreign Ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency and the National Fire Agency. Dispatched at the official request of the Nepalese government, the team will spend approximately 10 days conducting search and rescue operations for local victims as well as nine Korean nationals who remain out of contact.

Before the team's departure, Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jin-a traveled to Seoul Airport to personally encourage the relief workers gathered there.

Kim said she hoped the team's work would "protect the lives and safety of our citizens while also sending a message of solidarity and hope to the people of Nepal, who have suffered a major disaster." She also urged each team member to prioritize their personal safety as they carry out "the weighty mission of searching for and rescuing victims under difficult conditions on the ground."


sunpine@heraldcorp.com