With So Many Missing, Why Is Nepal Insisting on Leading Search Efforts?

[Anchor]

Despite a massive number of missing people, Nepalese authorities are limiting foreign assistance to specialized areas such as DNA identification. They have stated that search and rescue operations will be led strictly by their own country.

Reporter Min Gyeongho looks into the reasons behind this decision.

[Reporter]

Deep, narrow gorges and land transformed into swamps following severe floods.

The Nepalese government points to these conditions as a key reason for not allowing foreign rescue teams to conduct searches.

Only helicopters can access the affected areas, and even for Nepalese pilots familiar with the terrain, it is not an easy task, meaning rescue workers could also be put in danger.

[Sisir Kanhal / Nepalese Foreign Minister: Even Nepalese helicopters have to wait in line to pass through the narrow gorges.]

This stance also appears to reflect experiences from the 2015 Nepal earthquake, which resulted in more than 30,000 casualties.

At the time, aircraft from numerous countries flooded the airport, taking three days for rescue teams to land, and out of 61 arriving rescue teams, only 16 met UN standards.

As a result, specialized technical support is being requested as a priority over direct search and rescue operations.

[Sisir Kanhal / Nepalese Foreign Minister: (We have asked neighboring countries) for support that can further strengthen search and rescue capabilities, such as clearing access roads to tunnels where people are trapped or technologies to locate survivors in affected areas.]

Some interpret this as reluctance to allow rescue teams from countries like South Korea, the United States, and Japan to enter due to the border proximity with the Tibet region controlled by China, but Nepalese authorities have denied that relations with China were a factor.

The stance of the new government, which was launched in March of this year after winning a general election with the backing of the younger generation following the so-called Nepalese Gen Z Revolution, is also being discussed.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah, a former prominent rapper, emphasizes reform and self-reliance.

Nepalese authorities have also appealed for assistance from the international community to preserve the Himalayan ecosystem, noting that Nepal accounts for less than 0.01 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet has become one of the biggest victims of climate change.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.