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Koreans based in Middle East weigh evacuation amid U.S., Israel attacks on Iran

Published: 01 Mar. 2026, 20:00

Officers from Israel's Home Front Command search through the rubble of a damaged apartment building after an Iranian missile strike, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 1. [AP/YONHAP]

Missile barrages and air raid sirens blasted through the night across Israel and neighboring Jordan this weekend, sending Korean residents scrambling for shelter and weighing up evacuation, during Iran's retaliation to U.S. and Israeli attacks.

For members of the Korean communities in the Middle East, the scale and tempo of the attacks felt unlike anything they had experienced before.

“It’s the first time they’ve fired missiles every one to two hours like this,” Lee Kang-keun, head of the Korean Association in Israel, said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo early Sunday morning. “The thunderous booms that shake the ground are instilling a different level of fear among Koreans here.”

The interview took place around 6 a.m., hours after the first strikes began on Saturday. Lee said emergency alerts rang out on mobile phones throughout the night.

“Whenever something flies in from Iran, every phone in Israel goes ‘beep, beep, beep, beep’ with an emergency alert,” he said. “That continued all night.”

Lee Kang-keun, the head of the Korean Association in Israel [KOREAN ASSOCIATION IN ISRAEL]

Air raid sirens wailed at intervals, he said, and explosions echoed nearby until dawn. The sounds of blasts and sirens broke into the interview several times.

When the alarms sound, residents must move quickly to designated safe rooms or neighborhood bomb shelters.

“In my case, the nearest shelter is quite a distance away, so it’s not easy to get there,” Lee said.

Iran’s retaliation targeted countries that house U.S. forces, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In Jordan, which borders Israel and hosts the United States' Muwaffaq Salti Air Base — where about 60 U.S. fighter jets are deployed — Korean residents described similar scenes of sirens and explosions.

“Sirens have been wailing continuously in Jordan as well,” said Jang Han-joo, head of the Korean Association in Jordan. “Yesterday afternoon, a missile was intercepted. Smoke rose into the air and what looked like metal fragments fell onto residential areas.”

No Korean casualties reported

Debris falls in Jordan after a missile was intercepted. [KOREAN ASSOCIATION IN JORDAN]

The two leaders of the Korean associations in Israel and Jordan said they were preparing for the possibility of broader evacuations.

“Short-term visitors will take buses to Cairo in Egypt the day after tomorrow under the [Korean] embassy’s supervision,” Lee said. “We are also discussing evacuation plans for long-term residents through the Korean Association. It may be better to head to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.”

Jang said overland routes and airspace in and around Israel have largely closed, opening only intermittently.

“We are watching the situation together and staying on alert,” he said.

The Korean communities in Israel, Jordan and other neighboring countries have coordinated evacuations before. After a 12-day clash between Iran and Israel in June last year, Korean associations in the region worked together to move about 100 people to Jordan and Egypt.

A missile falls after it is intercepted in Jordan. [KOREAN ASSOCIATION IN JORDAN]

For now, no injuries among Korean nationals have been reported. Hundreds of members share updates through social media, association leaders said, while Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Sunday that it had received no reports of Korean casualties in Iran or Israel. Embassy officials have urged residents to remain indoors.

An official from the Department of Persian and Iranian Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, which sends three to five exchange students to Iran each semester, said there are currently “no students residing in the country” following last summer’s clashes.

“We are also checking on the safety of students in neighboring countries,” the official added.

Iranians in Korea fear for families

People gather to mourn after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes, in Tehran, Iran, on March 1, in this photo provided by the West Asia News Agency. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The unrest has also unsettled Iranians living in Korea, many of whom have struggled to reach relatives back home.

“Since yesterday, all local communications networks have been cut off, so we haven’t heard anything about the damage,” said Hoda, an Iranian resident in Korea. “People who left family behind in Iran haven’t been able to sleep because they’re so worried.”

Another Iranian, who asked not to be named, said the decades-long tensions in the region left some believing “there wouldn't be any major consequences,” but added that “many continue to track developments through foreign news outlets.”

Lee So-young, head of the Foreigners in Korea Support Center, said some Iranians have hesitated to speak publicly.

“They worry that interviews or public remarks could be used politically and might even affect the safety of family members back home,” she said.

Amid the uncertainty, some have expressed cautious hope after the Iranian government announced Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had died.

“Iranians staying in Korea are now hoping they may finally be able to return home without fear,” said Park Sima, an Iranian-born human rights activist and pastor.

Khamenei led Iran for 37 years, steering a firmly anti-U.S. and anti-Western course. International human rights organizations have long accused his government of carrying out large-scale executions and suppressing dissent.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JEONG-JAE, BYUN MIN-CHUL, OH SAM-GWON [[email protected]]