[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-gi] The government is reportedly planning to deploy military aircraft as early as the 18th to transport some of the nationals aboard the Japanese cruise ship, where a large number of COVID-19 infections have occurred, back to South Korea.
According to diplomatic sources on the 17th, the government is negotiating with Japan to bring some of the 14 Koreans aboard the cruise ship "Diamond Princess," which is docked at Yokohama Port, back to South Korea via military transport aircraft. The schedule for deploying the military aircraft is said to be somewhat flexible. Among the Koreans on the cruise ship, there are 9 passengers and 5 crew members, totaling 14 people. Some of them have reportedly expressed their intention to return to Korea.
A diplomatic source said, "There are still people who have not made a definite decision, so it is difficult to specify exactly how many passengers want to go to Korea." Since the number of those wishing to return to Korea is small, it is known that military transport aircraft, rather than a chartered plane, will be used.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, out of approximately 3,700 cruise ship passengers and crew, 1,723 have been tested for COVID-19, with 454 confirmed infections. There are currently no confirmed cases among the Korean passengers. The government plans to quarantine the cruise ship passengers transported to Korea for 14 days, similar to the quarantine measures for evacuees from Wuhan, China.
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