10 Korean Residents in East Timor, Stranded Due to 'National Lockdown,' Return Home via Multinational Charter Flight

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sunhee] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international passenger flights had been suspended for nearly two months, leaving 10 Korean residents in East Timor stranded. On the 25th, they boarded a multinational charter flight bound for the Philippines to return home.

According to the Korean Embassy in East Timor on that day, 10 Koreans, including officials from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), teachers dispatched by the Ministry of Education, a Catholic friar, and private business owners, departed from Dili, the capital of East Timor, on a Pan Pacific Airlines charter flight to Manila, Philippines. The charter flight carried a total of 50 passengers, including 35 Filipinos, 4 Japanese, and 1 American, in addition to the Korean residents.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, East Timor has suspended all passenger flights since March 29, effectively resulting in a 'national lockdown.' The Korean Embassy in East Timor assessed the demand for repatriation and, in cooperation with the Korean Embassy in the Philippines and the East Timor Embassy in the Philippines, arranged for the use of the charter flight. The one-way airfare per person was reported to be $433.

The Korean residents on the charter flight are scheduled to arrive in Manila on the same day and then transfer to Korean Air flight KE624 at 11:55 PM, arriving at Incheon Airport in the early morning of the 26th.

Previously, among approximately 220 Korean residents in East Timor, about 110, including 94 KOICA members, had returned home. With the additional 10 returning on this day, it is reported that about 100 Korean residents remain in the country.