South Korea Dispatches Rescue Team for Missing Citizens in Nepal

President Lee Jae Myung convened an emergency meeting in Seoul on Thursday to coordinate search-and-rescue operations for South Korean citizens missing after flash floods in northern Nepal. Nine South Koreans, employees of Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power working at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant construction site in Rasuwa district, remain unaccounted for. Lee stated that the safety and lives of citizens are in a very serious situation and urged the mobilization of all available resources.

In response, the South Korean government dispatched an 11-member rapid response team to Nepal as an advance party. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun announced that additional rescue teams may be deployed to assist in locating the missing and stranded nationals. While nine of ten other stranded South Korean workers were evacuated by a Nepalese military helicopter, the government continues to seek diplomatic cooperation with Nepal to deploy further resources.

South Korea has pledged $1 million in humanitarian assistance to support Nepal's recovery efforts. The wider disaster along the Nepal-China border has left 165 people dead and 826 missing. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also monitoring for additional casualties among the approximately 20,000 South Koreans who visit Nepal annually for tourism.