Nepal Government Begins Gradual Withdrawal of Response Team; Four Police Officers Remain

The South Korean government plans to gradually withdraw its joint response team dispatched to Nepal to address the flood damage. Four police officers will remain on-site to continue identifying victims, while the search for missing persons and support for families will be coordinated by the South Korean Embassy in Nepal.
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on September 29 that the personnel from the joint response team are being returned in phases, considering the preparations for corporate-level excavation at the main camp.
 
Of the nine members of the response team, two from the National Fire Agency and one from the Foreign Ministry returned home on September 27. Kang Yong-gu, the head of the joint response team, along with another Foreign Ministry official, is scheduled to return on October 1.
 
The four police officers will remain in Nepal for the time being. They plan to assist in victim identification while maintaining a joint operational system with Nepalese police. The embassy will continue to oversee corporate search activities and support for the families of the missing.
 
Before the withdrawal, the joint response team coordinated with local authorities to ensure that the excavation work at the main camp, where eight of the nine missing South Koreans were believed to have been working, could proceed smoothly.
 
The team arranged for the Nepalese military to provide helicopter support to transport excavators to the main camp. They also secured local authorities' permission to prioritize the deployment of eight out of 15 heavy equipment donated by Doosan Enerbility for the excavation work.
 
Cooperation for victim identification is ongoing. Two of the four police officers have been working jointly with local personnel at the Nepal Central Forensic Science Institute since October 2. They are assisting the Nepalese government’s identification efforts using four rapid DNA analyzers provided by the South Korean police.
 
The United States has expressed its intention to provide $1 million worth of supplies, including cartridges needed for the rapid DNA analyzers supported by South Korea. The response team has also secured cooperation from Nepal to ensure that South Korean police can participate in the identification process from the initial stages if bodies are discovered during the excavation at the main camp, and to directly verify photos and videos of the bodies held by Nepalese police.
 
The large-scale flooding that occurred on August 26 in the Rasuwagadhi area of northern Nepal resulted in the disappearance of nine South Koreans who were at a local hydropower construction site. Eight of them are believed to have been near the downstream main camp and powerhouse area, while one was near the upstream weir dam. Following the incident, the government dispatched a rapid response team the next day and decided to send the South Korean Overseas Emergency Relief Team (KDRT) on September 1. The second team of the emergency relief team completed its field activities on September 17 and returned, while the joint response team has remained to conduct search operations, support families, and assist with victim identification.