Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs arrived in Kathmandu on the 5th (local time) to consult with Nepalese authorities on pending issues, including the search for nine Koreans missing after Nepal's massive flooding.
The minister arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on a Korean Air Lines passenger flight from Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the day.
Upon arrival, at the airport, Cho told Korean reporters, "Tomorrow I will hold talks with Nepal's Minister of Foreign Affairs (Shishir Khanal) and also meet with several other Nepal government officials." He added, "We will discuss not only managing the situation but also close cooperation going forward, including reconstruction."
Minister Cho is expected to ask Minister Khanal for support regarding the search operation for the missing Koreans. Cho added, "We will do our best," and "We promise to carry out rescue operations as quickly as possible so that (the missing Koreans) can survive, no matter what."
Earlier, on the 27th and 31st of last month, Minister Cho held two phone calls with Minister Khanal to ask for intensive searches of the areas where Koreans went missing. Cho plans to stay in Nepal for three days through the 7th, meet with families of the missing Koreans and officials from Korean corporations, and encourage the KDRT currently dispatched to Nepal.
So far, 1,375 people have died and 5,531 are missing in Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region due to the massive flooding that began upstream in the Himalayan mountain region. Among them, six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three employees of Korea South-East Power (KOEN), who were building the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydropower plant in Rasuwa, Bagmati Province in north-central Nepal, are missing.