Ministry of Foreign Affairs "Negotiating Additional Charter Flight to Carry 350 Korean Residents with China"

Flight Requests from Countries Worldwide, Strictly Controlled
Observations Suggest Additional Charter Flights May Take Time to Deploy

On the 31st, a charter flight dispatched to transport Korean residents living in Wuhan, China, arrived at Gimpo International Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is continuing negotiations with China to send a second charter flight to evacuate approximately 350 more South Korean nationals staying in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia).

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 31st, the schedule for the second charter flight to transport the remaining nationals has not yet been finalized. If negotiations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese government proceed smoothly, the second charter flight is expected to depart from Korea around the same time as the first charter flight and return to Gimpo Airport in the early hours of the 1st. An additional rapid response team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also accompany the flight.

Some speculate that it may take some time before the additional charter flight can be deployed. This is because several countries have requested permission from the Chinese government to operate charter flights for their nationals, and the landing and takeoff times for charter flights are being strictly controlled. It is also known that some flight operation permissions requested by certain countries have been canceled. The Chinese side reportedly conveyed to the Korean government that deploying additional flights is currently difficult. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official explained, "The government is actively negotiating with the Chinese side to ensure that additional temporary flights for the return of nationals staying locally can be operated as soon as possible."

Due to Chinese restrictions, the Korean government's transportation plans have also been repeatedly changed and reduced. The government initially planned to deploy two charter flights on the 30th and 31st to repatriate nationals from Wuhan, but this was reduced to one flight during negotiations with the Chinese government. The government had intended to space out the flights to reduce contact among nationals in case of emergency, but this was not feasible. Accordingly, the nationals traveled wearing N95 masks for quarantine purposes.

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha stated at a joint briefing with related ministries the previous day, "We are continuously communicating with the Chinese central government through our diplomatic missions and the embassy in Beijing," adding, "We are negotiating, including additional temporary flights, so that all overseas nationals can return home as soon as possible."

Japan also attempted to deploy two charter flights simultaneously but is operating one flight sequentially due to opposition from the Chinese government. Japan transported 206 people on the first charter flight and 210 on the second. The Japanese government sent a third charter flight to transport about 300 remaining returnees and is reportedly negotiating with the Chinese side to deploy a fourth charter flight early next week.

On the 29th (local time), the United States evacuated about 240 people, including staff from the U.S. consulate in Wuhan and nationals, to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, approximately 100 km east of Los Angeles, California. The U.S. plans to deploy an additional charter flight in early February. Governments of France, Canada, Sri Lanka, India, and others are also negotiating with the Chinese government to repatriate their nationals via flights.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.