Foreign Ministry: "No Progress in Searching for Kim Hong-bin, Dispatching Consular Officer"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho]The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 20th that regarding General Kim Hong-bin, who went missing on his way down after completing the ascent of the 14 peaks of the Himalayas, "Unfortunately, there has been no special progress in the search for the missing person so far."

At the regular briefing on the same day, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam responded this way when asked about the progress of the search for General Kim, adding that immediately after receiving the missing person report, they requested the dispatch of rescue teams including helicopters from the relevant embassies to the authorities in Pakistan and China.

In response, the Pakistani side stated that "helicopters will take off soon as weather conditions permit," and spokesperson Choi explained that they received active cooperation intentions from both countries.

Additionally, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Pakistan and the Embassy in China dispatched consuls in charge to the area where the missing incident occurred, and they are expected to arrive on site soon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters also activated the Overseas Korean Protection Task Force related to this accident and held a meeting with relevant ministries to discuss response measures.

General Kim was stranded near an altitude of 7,900 meters around midnight local time on the 19th while crossing a crevasse, sent a rescue request via satellite phone, and a Russian climbing team arrived at the accident site around 11 a.m. to conduct rescue operations but failed.

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