South Korea Dispatches Disaster Relief Team to Nepal Following Devastating Floods

South Korea is dispatching a 44 member disaster relief team to Nepal to support search and rescue operations following massive floods and landslides that struck the Rasuwa district last Wednesday. The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), which includes personnel from the foreign ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, and fire authorities, is scheduled to depart on a KC-330 Cygnus military transport aircraft. The team will remain in Nepal for approximately 10 days to assist victims, including nine missing South Koreans. These missing individuals consist of six employees from Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power Co. who were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site.

A separate government rapid response team already on the ground has conducted ground, helicopter, and drone searches, but officials reported that no meaningful progress has been made in locating the nine missing nationals. Search efforts have faced challenges including bad weather and initial restrictions by Nepalese authorities on foreign helicopter operations. Doosan Enerbility recently secured clearance for one of its helicopters to join the search.

South Korea's new Ambassador to Nepal, Park Jae-kyung, has officially taken office and pledged full support for the operations. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has also coordinated with his Nepalese counterpart, Shisir Khanal, to request military assistance in areas where communication was lost. South Korea previously announced $1 million in humanitarian assistance to support Nepal's response. Foreign media reports indicate that the floods have killed more than 800 people and left around 3,000 others missing.