[Aju News Data]
The presidential office said the aircraft called "KC-330" arrived at Seoul Air Base at 3:57 p.m. (0657 GMT) on April 25. After checking their health conditions, the rescued members will move into accommodation facilities provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The South Korean government has embarked on a rescue mission titled "Promise" amid a conflict between Sudan's regular army and a paramilitary group called "Rapid Support Forces (RSF)." To escape from the civil war, South Korean civilians left the capital city of Khartoum and traveled about 820 kilometers by land to reach Port Sudan, a northeastern region where a military plane "C-130J Super Hercules" was waiting for them. During their escape, they faced various risky situations such as a six to seven-hour delay due to a malfunction of a bus.
Through the transport aircraft, South Koreans then moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from Port Sudan. The evacuees were then transferred to KC-330 at Jeddah Airport to return to their home country.
Although the presidential office earlier announced that there were two people who did not want to return to South Korea, they later changed their decision to evacuate with 26 other members after having second thoughts.
In Sudan, at least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 to 3,700 injured in armed clashes in the past 10 days. Other countries including the United States and Britain are also striving to evacuate their citizens during a "72-hour nationwide ceasefire" that began at 12 p.m. (local time) on April 24.
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