▲ Foreign Minister Cho Hyun arrives in Nepal
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, on the 5th local time to discuss pending issues with Nepalese authorities, including the search for nine South Koreans missing due to massive floods in Nepal.
Minister Cho departed from Incheon International Airport aboard a Korean Air passenger jet earlier in the day and arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Immediately after entering the country, he told South Korean reporters at the airport, "Tomorrow, I plan to hold talks with Nepalese Foreign Minister (Sisir Khanal) and meet with a few other Nepalese government officials."
He added, "We plan to discuss with the Nepalese government side not only handling the flood situation, but also long-term cooperative relations, including future reconstruction."
Minister Cho is expected to meet with Minister Khanal to request support to ensure that search operations for the nine missing South Koreans are conducted smoothly.
Regarding the recent situation where the Nepalese military did not permit the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) to conduct on-foot searches in the mountainous area where the South Koreans went missing, he emphasized, "Rescue operations are currently restricted considering various weather conditions and terrain, and we plan to consult with the Nepalese side to maximize the search efforts."
Minister Cho added, "We will do our utmost," and promised, "We will do everything possible to speed up the rescue operations so that the missing South Koreans can survive somehow."
Previously, Minister Cho held telephone conversations with Minister Khanal twice, on the 27th and 31st of last month, requesting intensive searches in the area where the South Koreans went missing.
He plans to stay in Nepal for three days until the 7th, meeting with the families of the missing South Koreans and representatives of South Korean companies, while also encouraging members of the KDRT currently dispatched to Nepal.
Due to massive floods that occurred in the upper reaches of the Himalayan mountainous region on the 26th of last month, 1,375 people have died and 5,531 people remain missing as of this day in Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, which share a border.
Among the missing are nine South Koreans who were constructing the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant in the Rasuwa region of Bagmati Province in north-central Nepal.
They consist of six employees from Doosan Enerbility and three employees from Korea South-East Power.
On this day, the joint rescue team of the Nepalese military and the KDRT rescued a Chinese man from a tunnel at the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant construction site.
This survivor rescue marks the 9th person rescued since the establishment of the KDRT in 2007, following the rescue of 8 people during the earthquake in Türkiye in 2023.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.