Nine South Koreans Missing in Nepal Still Unfound for Third Day as Helicopter Search Falters

Nine South Koreans remained missing in Nepal for a third day on June 30, after repeated helicopter searches failed to find any sign of them. The workers lost contact after sudden flooding caused by a glacial collapse struck Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region on June 26.

A joint South Korean rapid-response team searched from the air on June 28 and 29, using one helicopter from Korea South-East Power and another arranged by the government. Officials said crews flew over the area twice and later conducted a detailed analysis of videos recorded during the searches, but found no survivors.

The government and Doosan Enerbility, the workers' employer, prepared another helicopter for June 30 and sought permission from Nepal. The flight did not take place. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said Nepal's military had withheld approval because of air traffic congestion and safety management concerns. Nepal generally bans private helicopter operations, although it had made an exception for the helicopter hired by South Korea. Nepal's military also landed a helicopter near a location believed to be associated with the nine workers on June 29 and conducted a ground search without results.

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Nepal's military authorities withheld approval that day for air-traffic congestion and safety-management reasons.

At the families' request, officials planned to prioritize a weir dam area upstream on the Trishuli River, about 10 kilometers in a straight line from the field office. The government is considering expanding the search area and deploying South Korean drones. Reports that more than 100 people could be trapped inside a tunnel at Doosan Enerbility's Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project were considered unlikely to involve the missing South Koreans. The tunnel is not where Korean workers operate and cannot be reached on foot from the accident site.

The floods had killed at least 788 people and left 3,048 missing by June 30, according to CNN and The Guardian. Some bodies may have been carried downstream into neighboring India. Nepal's government estimates reconstruction will cost at least $5 billion, roughly 10% of the country's gross domestic product.

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We conducted two flights over the area and visually checked it, then closely analyzed the video filmed during the search, but we did not find any surviving South Koreans.