South Korea's Emergency Relief Team Begins Operations in Nepal Using Advanced Equipment

[Anchor]

One week after the massive floods in Nepal, South Korea's emergency relief team arrived in the country early this morning (September 2). Equipped with cutting-edge gear and rescue dogs, the team has officially launched search and rescue operations for missing persons, including nine South Korean nationals.

Kwon Min-kyu reports from Nepal.

[Reporter]

A gray aircraft lowers its altitude through thick fog and touches down on the runway.

The South Korean Air Force transport aircraft Cygnus, which departed from South Korea early this morning, arrived in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu carrying 44 members of the emergency relief team.

One week after the severe flooding, the Nepali government approved the dispatch of the relief team, making South Korea the third country—following China and India—to conduct direct rescue operations on the ground in Nepal.

Composed of three Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, four Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) staff members, and 37 personnel from the National Fire Agency, the relief team will be deployed to search for missing persons—including nine South Koreans—and assist with flood damage recovery.

Along with five rescue dogs, the team plans to mobilize advanced equipment such as high-resolution drones and DNA kits for identity verification.

[Lee Kyu-ho / Head of the Overseas Emergency Relief Team: The equipment we brought totals nearly 1,000 items, including search and rescue gear. When searching tunnels, we need to use endoscopes to look inside, and thermal imaging cameras are used to check for the presence of people...]

After arriving in Nepal, the emergency relief team held a joint meeting with the rapid response team to share situational updates and discuss search strategies.

They decided to set up their base camp in Battar, which offers easy access to the search areas, and dispatched 10 members of the emergency relief team ahead to Ramche and Dhunche, where the rapid response team is conducting land searches.

[Kim Min-jong / KOICA Team Leader for the Overseas Emergency Relief Team: We will respond with humanitarian support for the suffering Nepali victims and do our utmost to safely bring our citizens back home as quickly as possible.]

The relief team stated that it plans to strengthen cooperation with Nepali authorities and focus all its efforts on search and rescue operations.

(Camera Reporter: Seol Chi-hwan, Kang Si-woo | Video Editor: Cho Mu-hwan | Designer: Lee Ga-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.