"Nepali Military Helicopter and One Chartered Helicopter Search the Site"

[Anchor]

The government's rapid response team dispatched to Nepal is making every effort to find the nine missing South Korean nationals. A Nepalese military helicopter and one helicopter secured locally by a South Korean company conducted searches, and the response team is also considering deploying an additional Air Force transport aircraft.

Reporting from Nepal, this is Kwon Min-kyu.

[Reporter]

At 8:00 p.m. local time yesterday (the 28th), the government's joint rapid response team held a briefing for the South Korean press corps in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, stating that they are making all-out efforts to search for the nine missing people with whom contact has been lost.

[Lim Sang-woo / Head of the Government Joint Rapid Response Team: The search for the nine unreachable individuals was conducted using Nepalese military assets and one civilian helicopter. Unfortunately, however, search operations must continue.]

The response team, together with Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power, whose employees are missing, chartered a total of six helicopters locally, but were blocked by the control of the Nepalese military authorities.

Due to inclement weather and concerns over a secondary flood, it was reported that flight authorization was granted for one helicopter rented by the company in the afternoon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is repeatedly requesting cooperation to obtain permission from the Nepalese authorities.

The affected area is in a situation where virtually no one can access the accident site other than by helicopter, as debris flows have swallowed up nearby roads.

The response team delivered a map pinpointing the estimated locations of the unreachable South Koreans at the time of the flood to Nepalese authorities, and a Nepalese military helicopter went out to search, but has not yet found any specific developments.

The nine missing individuals with whom contact remains unestablished are six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three employees of Korea South-East Power.

Meanwhile, all 10 South Korean nationals who were once isolated and subsequently rescued have been safely transferred to safe areas, though decisions regarding their relocation to Kathmandu and repatriation have not yet been finalized.

While the response team is striving to launch helicopters as soon as daylight breaks, they are also preparing plans to deploy the South Korean Air Force's multi-role transport aircraft, the "Cygnus," to the local site in Nepal.

(Video Editing: Kim Ho-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.