Korea to maintain joint response team in Nepal with 2nd disaster team set to return home

Korea will maintain a joint government response team in Nepal to continue efforts to locate nine Korean nationals who have remained missing since massive floods hit the country last month, Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 Koreans — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three of Korea South-East Power — went missing Aug. 26 after massive floods and landslides struck Rasuwa District near the border between Nepal and the Tibet region of China 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 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.

Yonhap