South Korea Sends Second Relief Team to Nepal as Search for Missing Nationals Continues

South Korea will deploy a second overseas emergency relief team to Nepal this week to support reconstruction and recovery efforts following devastating floods. The eight member Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), consisting of foreign ministry officials, firefighters, medical staff, and Korea International Cooperation Agency personnel, is scheduled to arrive Friday aboard a KC-330 military transport aircraft. The team will also deliver approximately 4 tons of relief supplies valued at 180 million won, which were donated by South Korean companies.

The mission follows the deployment of an initial 44 member KDRT contingent that is now concluding its 10 day search and rescue operation. That team utilized drones and helicopters but found no signs of nine missing South Koreans. The missing individuals, six employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and three from Korea South-East Power Co. disappeared on August 26 during floods and landslides at a hydropower plant construction site near the Nepal-Tibet border. Government officials cited rugged terrain, weather risks, and infectious diseases as significant constraints to the search.

President Lee Jae Myung has instructed officials to review measures to support the families of the missing and to incorporate their wishes into the government's response. This order follows a press conference in Kathmandu by families of three Korea South-East Power employees who opposed the withdrawal of the first search team and urged continued ground searches. Foreign media reports indicate that more than 1,400 people have been killed and over 5,600 remain missing across Nepal.