Eight-member team to focus on reconstruction and recovery after deadly floods and landslides…reports Asian Lite News Desk
South Korea will dispatch a second overseas emergency relief team to Nepal this week as the country shifts its focus from search and rescue operations to reconstruction and recovery following devastating floods and landslides.
The eight-member Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) is scheduled to leave for Nepal aboard a KC-330 military transport aircraft and arrive on Friday, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.
The team will comprise officials from the ministry, firefighters, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) personnel and medical staff. A small number of rescue personnel will also be part of the contingent.
During its seven-day mission, the team will focus primarily on reconstruction and recovery efforts in areas affected by the floods and landslides, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The deployment comes after nine South Korean nationals went missing on August 26 when massive floods and landslides struck Nepal’s Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border. The missing individuals include six employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and three workers from Korea South-East Power Co., who were at a hydropower plant construction site when the disaster struck.
“Nepal has decided to shift its operations from search and rescue to reconstruction and recovery and has asked us to support recovery efforts in the affected areas,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said at a press briefing.
The second team will arrive as the first 44-member KDRT contingent prepares to return to South Korea after completing a 10-day search-and-rescue mission.
Working alongside local authorities and corporate response teams, the first contingent carried out extensive searches using drones, helicopters and other advanced equipment. However, no signs of the nine missing South Koreans have been found so far.
The planned conclusion of the first team’s mission has drawn opposition from the families of three missing Korea South-East Power employees. They have urged authorities to continue ground searches in areas where they believe the workers may have evacuated.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has instructed officials to listen closely to the families’ concerns and examine measures that could reflect their wishes as far as possible, according to the presidential office.
“The government understands how anxious and frustrated the families must be. We will listen to their concerns and review measures to respect and reflect their wishes,” Park said.
The second KDRT deployment reflects South Korea’s continued involvement in Nepal’s disaster response even as operations move toward the longer-term recovery phase.
