South Korean Rescue Team to Search Nepal Mountain Areas Requested by Families of Missing Koreans

South Korea’s overseas emergency rescue team will begin a foot search in Nepal’s mountainous flood-hit areas after Nepal agreed to cooperate with the operation.

Six members of the Korea Disaster Relief Team will travel by helicopter with Nepal’s army to the areas around the powerhouse, the mountains west of Yellow Bridge and the mountains to the right of the main camp. They will attempt searches on foot where possible and use drones to improve coverage while keeping the team safe.

The operation follows a change in the Nepalese government’s position the previous day. During a meeting on Aug. 6, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun showed Nepalese Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal a map marking the areas where nine South Koreans had lost contact and explained the locations where South Korea wanted to search. Nepal then agreed to assist.

Nepal’s army had previously maintained that it could not approve a South Korean foot search in the areas because of the steep terrain. The Korean rescue team earlier conducted a foot search near Lamche on Aug. 2 and used drones near the powerhouse and weir dam on Aug. 4, but it has not found the nine missing Koreans.