South Korea to send 44-member relief team to flood-hit Nepal as search widens for missing nationals

# South Korea to send 44-member relief team to flood-hit Nepal as search widens for missing nationals

South Korea is sending a 44-member disaster relief team to Nepal after deadly floods swept through the country’s northern Rasuwa district, with the mission expected to support search and rescue efforts and help locate missing South Koreans.

The deployment marks a new phase in Seoul’s response to the disaster, which has already prompted a separate rapid response team to operate on the ground in Nepal. According to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, the Korea Disaster Relief Team was approved after the public-private Overseas Emergency Relief Council, which coordinates the country’s response to major overseas disasters, agreed to the move.

The team is scheduled to leave on a South Korean military transport aircraft on Tuesday night, and it will work for about 10 days in coordination with Nepali authorities. The Foreign Ministry said the group will include personnel from the ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the National Fire Agency and other agencies. Lee Kyu-ho, the ministry’s director general for development cooperation, will lead the mission.

The decision comes as the scale of the flooding continues to grow and concerns remain about South Koreans who have not yet been accounted for. Seoul had been preparing to deploy the team but was waiting for an official request from Nepali authorities. The ministry said that request has now been made, allowing the relief unit to move forward.

The disaster struck Nepal’s Rasuwa district on Aug. 26, and the flood response has been complicated by the terrain and by the scale of destruction. The South Korean government has already said it is preparing to use a KC-330 Cygnus multirole aerial tanker and transport aircraft to move personnel and equipment. The new mission will operate separately from the government rapid response team already in Nepal, which has been helping search for nine missing South Koreans since last week.

The Foreign Ministry described the KDRT as a government-led emergency relief unit that can be deployed after major overseas disasters for search and rescue, medical support and other emergency assistance. Its deployment is decided through the Overseas Emergency Relief Council under South Korea’s Overseas Emergency Relief Act.

South Korea has sent similar teams abroad in response to other major disasters, including the 2023 earthquake in Turkey, the 2018 dam collapse in Laos and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. In this case, the humanitarian response also includes a separate commitment of $1 million announced on Aug. 27 to support Nepal’s flood relief through international organizations working in the country.

Officials said the mission will be coordinated closely with Nepali authorities and focused on rescue work in the affected areas, including support for missing South Korean nationals. The Foreign Ministry said the government will continue working with Nepal and will look for further ways to assist on the ground as needed.

The floods have drawn attention not only because of the immediate loss and damage in Nepal, but also because of the continuing uncertainty for foreign nationals caught in the disaster zone. For Seoul, the deployment of a specialized relief team signals an effort to combine domestic disaster-response capabilities with international coordination as the emergency continues.

At this stage, the ministry’s public message is straightforward: the team is being sent to help search, rescue and support the response in Nepal, and it is doing so with a formal request from Nepali authorities in hand.