'3rd Charter Flight' Carrying Over 170 Passengers Departs Incheon Today... Including Chinese Families

Only Direct Relatives and Spouses Allowed to Board
Transported to Gyeonggi Icheon Defense Language Institute... 14 Days Quarantine

Overseas Koreans from Wuhan, China are disembarking from a chartered flight that landed at Gimpo Airport on the morning of the 31st. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The third charter flight to bring overseas Koreans staying in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China?the epicenter of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia)?and nearby areas back to Korea will depart from Incheon International Airport on the evening of the 11th. It has been ten days since 701 overseas Koreans returned on the first and second charter flights. Chinese immediate family members who were previously unable to board due to Chinese government policies will also enter the country on this charter flight along with the overseas Koreans and will be transported to the Defense Language Institute at the Joint Military Academy in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, designated as a temporary living facility.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 11th, the Korean Air charter flight carrying overseas Koreans and Chinese family members is scheduled to depart Incheon International Airport around 8:45 p.m. and arrive at Wuhan Tianhe Airport around midnight Korean time. To assist with the boarding and entry procedures of passengers, a rapid response team of about 10 people, including Lee Sang-jin, Director of the Overseas Koreans Consular Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as team leader, medical staff from the National Medical Center, and quarantine officers from the National Incheon Airport Quarantine Station, will be deployed.

The passengers boarding the third charter flight are identified as about 170 overseas Koreans and Chinese immediate family members who expressed their intention through a preliminary demand survey. The Chinese government initially prohibited Chinese nationals from boarding during the first and second charter flights but changed its policy on the 5th and subsequently approved additional charter flights last weekend. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa explained, "There are about 230 overseas Koreans in Wuhan, including their families. The first and second temporary flights did not include Chinese nationals as per the Chinese government's policy, but this was changed on the 5th."

Eligible Chinese family members for boarding are limited to immediate relatives such as parents, children, and spouses. The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Wuhan notified remaining overseas Koreans that "the Chinese government allows only spouses, parents, and children of our nationals to board the temporary flights; therefore, others such as parents-in-law are restricted from boarding."

As the charter flight operation approaches, the Consulate General has begun providing guidance on visa issuance procedures and required documents for Chinese family members. The Ministry of Justice plans to issue entry visas collectively at immigration offices for Chinese nationals who do not possess Korean visas. The Consulate General advised, "At Tianhe Airport, departure will be permitted after verifying the relationship between the nationals and Chinese family members boarding the third temporary flight. Please be sure to prepare family registers, marriage certificates, birth medical certificates, etc."

Overseas Koreans and Chinese family members are expected to depart Tianhe Airport in the early hours of the 12th and arrive at Gimpo Airport in Korea in the morning Korean time. They will undergo domestic quarantine procedures and then be transported to the Defense Language Institute, designated as a temporary living facility, where they will stay for 14 days. The Defense Language Institute, responsible for language education for officers and non-commissioned officers scheduled for overseas dispatch and foreign military officers dispatched to Korea, is a four-story building with about 350 private rooms, including 327 single rooms of 21.8㎡ for Korean military personnel and 26 single rooms of 44.9㎡ for foreign military personnel. Assuming one person per room to prepare for potential symptomatic cases of the novel coronavirus, it can accommodate about 350 people.

The temporary living facility is located about 17 km from the city center including Icheon City Hall and about 1 km from the nearest apartment complex. Due to the accommodation of overseas Koreans, foreign and Korean military officers who were previously receiving education at the Defense Language Institute have had to vacate their lodgings. The Ministry of National Defense plans to relocate about 90 foreign military officers currently receiving Korean language training at the Defense Language Institute to a government facility in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, to continue their education.

Kim Kang-rip, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said, "The Joint Military Academy Defense Language Institute was selected after comprehensively considering the appropriateness of capacity and accessibility to the airport and medical institutions."

Meanwhile, nine staff members of the Consulate General in Wuhan will remain on-site to assist about 100 overseas Koreans who stayed behind by delivering supplies and relief goods supported through this charter flight.