Korean Disaster Relief Team Arrives in Kathmandu... Deployment to Field Expected as Early as Tomorrow

The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) has arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on the 2nd (local time) to support search and rescue operations at the site of severe flooding in Nepal.

The Air Force multi-role refueling aircraft "Cygnus" (KC-330) carrying the team members landed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at around 6:27 AM.

The relief team consists of 44 members, including Relief Team Leader Lee Kyu-ho, Director-General for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; three officials from the Foreign Affairs Ministry; four from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA); and 37 from the National Fire Agency.

They are also equipped with various advanced devices, including five rescue dogs, high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), acoustic and video detectors for buried victims, and thermal imaging cameras.

Going forward, they plan to conduct search and rescue operations for missing persons, including nine South Koreans, in cooperation with Nepalese authorities.

Upon arrival at Tribhuvan Airport, Team Leader Lee explained, "We cannot start rescue operations right away today," adding, "We must first survey an area to set up our base camp since we will need to camp on-site, and that also requires consultation with the Nepalese side."

He added, "We will consult with the rapid response team and the South Korean Embassy in Nepal this morning, go on a base camp site survey this afternoon, and plan to head to the field as early as tomorrow morning."

Bidur in Nuwakot District, Bagmati Province, located close to the area where the nine South Koreans went missing, is primarily being discussed as the base camp for the relief team.

Team Leader Lee stated, "We need to go as close to the site as possible," and "While Bidur seems most suitable, we need to go and see for ourselves whether it is a place where we can camp and operate."

The relief team plans to search for and rescue foreign missing persons as well, rather than limiting their search to South Korean nationals.

Previously, the government dispatched a joint government rapid response team totaling 20 members to Nepal in two batches on the 27th and 29th of last month. While they have concurrently conducted land searches alongside helicopters and drones to find the nine missing South Koreans, there has been no clear progress yet.

Up to now, the rapid response team has had to obtain individual permissions from Nepalese authorities to operate helicopters and other assets. However, expectations are high that more active searches will become possible once the Korea Disaster Relief Team—dispatched at the request of the Nepalese government—joins the operations.

Currently, the overland search team formed by the rapid response team has advanced as far as Dhunche in Rasuwa District, Bagmati Province, which suffered severe damage from the massive flooding.

Dhunche is located about 2 kilometers away from the weir dam, the upper dam of the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant where the nine missing South Koreans worked.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.