(2nd LD) FM Cho to visit Nepal for ministerial talks on massive flood response

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is set to travel to Nepal on Saturday to engage in ministerial discussions about the government's response to the recent floods, reports Yonhap. During a three-day visit spanning from Monday to Wednesday, Cho intends to engage in talks with his Nepalese counterpart, Shisir Khanal, and meet with families of the nine South Koreans who went missing on August 26 while working at a hydropower plant construction site near the Nepal-Tibet border.

The missing individuals, six from Doosan Enerbility Co. and three from Korea South-East Power Co., were part of a large workforce at the site when the catastrophic floods and landslides struck.

Cho will likely urge Nepal to aid in the search and rescue operations for the missing South Koreans, and together with Khanal, explore measures to expedite the recovery process. The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), tasked with supporting these efforts, is collaborating with both Nepalese authorities and the corporations leading their own search missions, utilizing helicopters, drones, search dogs, and other advanced equipment.

Cho's spokesperson, speaking from Incheon International Airport, expressed concern for the families of the unaccounted workers, promising to discuss recovery strategies with them and the emergency relief team. Cho emphasized that South Korea and Nepal share a long-standing friendship and partnership, vowing to discuss reconstruction efforts and potential Korean involvement in rebuilding the affected areas.

As of Wednesday, the death toll from the disaster had risen to more than 1,200, with nearly 6,000 people still unaccounted for, according to international media accounts.

Following his visit to Nepal, Cho is projected to head directly to France to join President Lee Jae Myung on his state visit, according to diplomatic sources. On Saturday, the Nepalese military unveiled a joint rescue operation, consisting of Nepalese army troops and South Korean disaster specialists, which successfully rescued a Chinese man from the same construction site where the nine missing South Koreans had been working.

The joint team also recovered six unidentified bodies from the site, while the KDRT announced the discovery of one unidentified body.