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Koreans in the Middle East scramble to form 'escape teams'

Published: 04 Mar. 2026, 16:42 Updated: 04 Mar. 2026, 17:06

A delivery-person rides a motorcycle along a road as behind a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3. [AFP/YONHAP]

Koreans stranded in parts of the Middle East are huddling to form their own “escape teams” on social media and traveling by bus or taxi to neighboring countries as U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran raise fears of a wider war.

Travelers are turning to online chat rooms run by YouTubers and seeking help from travel agencies to arrange overland routes as limited commercial flights leave few options to leave the region.

“So far, 18 teams — about 50 Koreans in total — have crossed the border from the UAE [United Arab Emirates] to Muscat, Oman,” 26-year-old Lee Jae-cheon told the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday.

Lee operates a chat room titled “UAE escape room.” Dozens of Koreans have already used the route from the emirates to neighboring Oman, according to Lee.

Lee, a YouTuber who previously produced content about international politics, said he opened the chat room on Sunday after a traveler in Dubai asked for help finding taxi services.

“At first, it was just a chat room where a few people shared information, but more and more people who wanted to leave by land joined,” Lee said. “Now more than 300 people are in the room. Fourteen volunteers are helping guide Koreans trying to leave Dubai by arranging transportation.”

Iranians who crossed into Turkey by land from Iran are seen on March 3. [YONHAP]

The cost of leaving varies depending on the vehicle and the number of passengers.

“A team that departed at 4 p.m. yesterday paid 2,362 dirhams [$643] for two people,” Lee said. When a 16-seat bus was rented earlier for about 5.3 million won ($3,580), the cost came to roughly 330,000 won per person.

Travelers, however, have also encountered unexpected fees along the way.

“On Tuesday, a border checkpoint suddenly said ‘the policy has changed’ and demanded 50 dirhams,” Lee said. “It looked like they were shaking people down for money, but we told those leaving to bring cash just in case.”

A flight to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates is marked canceled on a display board at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 on March 3. [YONHAP]

Travel agencies in Korea have also rushed to arrange overland routes for people trying to leave the region.

Cho Yeon-ah, 51, a director at Yana Trip, a travel agency specializing in the Middle East, said requests for vehicles that could depart immediately came at all hours.

“People asked us to find buses that could leave within one or two hours, day or night,” Cho said. “We stayed up overnight coordinating with contacts in Dubai and Muscat to arrange vehicles and guides.”

Cho said the company often had to take on financial risk because travelers could not always confirm their plans.

“We couldn’t even collect deposits in advance, so if someone didn’t show up the company had to cover the entire cost,” she said. “As someone running a business it was worrying, but we couldn’t just watch the urgent situation unfold.”

People sit outside a damaged warehouse in an industrial area in Al Rayyan, Qatar, as smoke rises following an Iranian strike on March 1. [AP/YONHAP]

Online chat rooms used by travelers in Qatar have also seen posts seeking people willing to share transportation across borders.

One traveler wrote: “Is anyone interested in taking a direct 14-seat bus to Riyadh Airport in Saudi Arabia on the 6th? The rental cost for the bus is 7,000 riyals [$1,870].”

Another traveler offered advice when someone said international roaming was not working.

“Use internet calling apps like Yolla or Maaltalk,” the person wrote.

Sung Il-kwang, a professor at the Euro-MENA Institute at Sogang University, advised travelers to check for reliable land transportation as tensions between Washington and Tehran show little sign of easing.

“The United States and Iran remain locked in a stalemate with neither side willing to compromise, so it will be difficult for the conflict to end in the short term,” Sung said. “With flights blocked, land routes may be the only way out, but safety may not be fully guaranteed, so travelers should carefully check whether bus or taxi operators are reliable.”

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 OH SAM-GWON [[email protected]]