The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) is being dispatched to Nepal, which has been struck by devastating floods.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today (September 1) that it decided to dispatch the KDRT to the flood-affected areas in Nepal following deliberation by the Public-Private Joint Overseas Emergency Relief Council.

The KDRT is a relief team organized using personnel from government ministries and related organizations to support affected countries through disaster relief, search and rescue, and medical assistance in the event of large-scale overseas disasters.

This dispatch comes as flood damage continues to escalate in the Rasuwa district of Nepal, which was hit on August 26, and follows an urgent request from the Nepali government for the South Korean side to support search and rescue operations in the affected areas.

Led by Lee Kyu-ho, Director-General for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 44-member KDRT includes personnel from the ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the National Fire Agency. The team is scheduled to depart for Nepal this evening aboard a South Korean military transport aircraft.

The relief team will carry out search and rescue operations for victims, including South Korean nationals who remain out of contact, while communicating and cooperating with the Nepali government on-site during a roughly 10-day mission.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "The government will continue communicating with the Nepali government and actively seek ways to provide the assistance needed on the ground in Nepal."

(Photo: Yonhap News)