Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin is in Nepal for three days, where he will meet with the families of missing Koreans and representatives from Korean companies, as well as encourage the overseas emergency rescue team (KDRT) deployed in the area.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Park arrived in Kathmandu on September 5 to discuss the search for nine Koreans missing due to the recent floods in Nepal.
He departed from Incheon International Airport on a Korean Air flight and landed at Tribhuvan International Airport.
The Nepalese military has recently restricted the KDRT's ground search efforts in the mountainous area where the Koreans went missing. Minister Park emphasized, “Given the various climatic and geographical challenges, the rescue operations are limited, but we plan to negotiate with the Nepalese side to maximize the search efforts.”
The nine missing Koreans were workers involved in the construction of the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydropower plant in the Rasuwagadhi area of central-northern Nepal. They include six employees from Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea Southeast Power.
On the same day, a joint rescue team from the Nepalese military and KDRT rescued one Chinese man from a tunnel at the UT-1 construction site. The Nepalese military reported that the joint team, consisting of Nepalese soldiers and Korean disaster experts, rescued the man from a 225-meter tunnel and is currently assessing his health condition.
This marks the ninth rescue operation conducted by KDRT since its establishment in 2007. The team previously rescued eight individuals during the 2023 earthquake in Turkey.
After concluding his schedule in Nepal, Minister Park is expected to travel directly to France to accompany President Lee Jae-myung on a state visit.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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