S. Korea's 2nd Nepal relief team to return; efforts to locate 9 missing Koreans to continue
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will maintain a joint government response team in Nepal to continue efforts to locate nine South Korean nationals who have remained missing since massive floods hit the country last month, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.
The move comes as the second contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) is set to wrap up its seven-day mission later in the day and return home, in line with a decision made by a joint public-private emergency relief council last week, according to the ministry.
Nine South Koreans -- six employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and three of Korea South-East Power Co. -- went missing Aug. 26 after massive floods and landslides struck Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border while they were working at a hydropower plant construction site.
The government response team, which was dispatched earlier for search-and-rescue operations separately from the KDRT, will remain in Nepal and work closely with Nepalese authorities, while also supporting the families of the missing, the ministry said.
The team will consist of eight members -- three from the ministry, two from the National Fire Agency and three from the National Police Agency. Additional members can be dispatched if needed, it added.
"The two firefighters were part of the second KDRT contingent but have decided to remain in Nepal as members of the response team. The team will continue efforts to determine the whereabouts of the missing Koreans," a ministry official said.
The three police officers will continue working with Nepal's Central Forensic Science Laboratory, where South Korea has provided four rapid DNA analysis devices, to assist in identifying victims.
The first 44-member KDRT contingent was dispatched to Nepal earlier this month for a 10-day mission. Officials have said operations have been hampered by rugged terrain, weather-related risks and the potential for infectious diseases, with no signs of the missing found so far.
Nepal has since shifted its focus from search and rescue to reconstruction and recovery, while Seoul has said it will continue supporting efforts to locate the missing Koreans in cooperation with Nepalese authorities and corporate rescue teams.
In this Reuters photo, a woman carrying a child looks at photographs of missing people on a wall outside Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital following deadly flash floods and mudslides, in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sept. 16, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
graceoh@yna.co.kr
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