Joint Rapid Response Teams Dispatched to Dubai and Oman... "Chartered Flights Under Consideration"

Joint Response Team Formed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police Agency

The South Korean government has urgently dispatched a joint rapid response team, comprising officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police Agency, to the Middle East to assist South Korean nationals stranded in the region due to escalating tensions following airstrikes between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

As the United States and Israel attacked Iran, worsening the situation in the Middle East, travelers who visited the region on the 5th are arriving through Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Yonhap News

Park Il, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, held a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex on March 5 and stated, "Tonight, two ambassador-level officials with experience working in the Middle East and consular affairs will each lead joint rapid response teams made up of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Police Agency. These teams will be dispatched to Dubai and Oman, where they will work with local diplomatic missions to support the safe evacuation of South Korean nationals."

It has been reported that Kwon Gihwan, former Multilateral Diplomacy Coordinator, will be dispatched as the head of the team to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while the Ambassador for International Cyber Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will lead the team in Oman.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government is actively considering options such as deploying chartered flights to support the return of South Korean nationals stranded in countries including the UAE. Earlier in the day, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun also appeared on SBS Radio's 'Kim Taehyun's Political Show' and stated, "We are preparing measures to operate chartered flights."

Regarding this, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Coordination with local authorities is necessary, and there are also issues such as checking airspace transit, among many other considerations. If local commercial flights are delayed, we are reviewing the option of sending chartered flights as a plan B."

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no casualties among South Korean nationals have been confirmed so far, and expatriates wishing to evacuate are being relocated to safe neighboring countries under the guidance of local diplomatic missions.

In Israel, following the evacuation of 66 people to Egypt on March 3, an additional four people have expressed their desire to evacuate to the embassy, and the embassy plans to assist them with evacuation to Egypt. In Iran, after 24 people were evacuated to Turkmenistan on March 3, one more person was evacuated the following day. In Bahrain, the South Korean Embassy opened the ambassador's residence to accommodate 20 nationals, and so far, a total of 13 South Korean nationals have been evacuated to Saudi Arabia. The South Korean Embassy in Iraq recently assisted in the evacuation of two nationals and plans to support the evacuation of three more people to Türkiye.

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