"Are They Pulling Out?" Families Demand Resumption of Search for Missing Koreans

[Anchor]

Families of the missing South Koreans currently staying in Nepal have held a press conference, criticizing that the government's emergency relief team is unilaterally giving up the search and attempting to withdraw prematurely. In fact, while the government relief team has suspended additional search operations, Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power are continuing their search efforts.

Reporter Kim Minpyo has the details.

[Reporter]

The South Korean emergency relief team dispatched to Nepal did not conduct separate search activities on the morning of today, the 9th, local time.

As the Nepalese authorities shifted the operation of helicopters from search to relief and recovery, effectively wrapping up the search phase, it has also become difficult for our relief team to carry out additional searches.

Yesterday, the team conducted drone and foot searches in the mountainous areas around the powerhouse and Yellow Bridge of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydroelectric power plant being constructed by our company in cooperation with the Nepalese military, but no results were yielded.

The relief team's operation period runs until the 11th, and it is reported that there are currently no discussions on extending the deployment.

Families of the missing Korea South-East Power employees staying on-site held a press conference, criticizing that the relief team is giving up the search under the pretext of safety assessments by Nepalese authorities and preparing for an early withdrawal.

In particular, they claimed that although they repeatedly provided the government with foot-search routes secured by a private search team led by a South Korean company and testimonies from Nepalese locals claiming to have seen South Koreans, no practical ground searches were conducted.

[Family Member of Missing Korea South-East Power Employee: Was there truly not a single way to conduct a practical search? The private search team has already been conducting search operations for several days in areas where the South Koreans are presumed to have evacuated.]

They put forward four demands, including the disclosure of the actual search scope and verification data, and the resumption of practical searches.

Separately from the government's emergency relief team, Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power are continuing their search to find the nine missing South Korean employees.

In particular, Korea South-East Power added 30 ground search personnel, including Sherpas familiar with the local terrain, deploying a total of 76 people across seven search teams.

The private rescue team plans to mobilize helicopters, drones equipped with special cameras, and search dogs to continue the search even if the government relief team withdraws.

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