Air Force Aerial Refueling Aircraft Deployed for Hong Beom-do Remains Repatriation Mission

At the KC-330 aerial refueling aircraft commissioning event held at the Air Force Gimhae Base on the 30th, a banner reading "KC-300 Cygnus" was displayed during the naming ceremony of the aerial refueling aircraft. / Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] The KC-330 (Cygnus), a multi-purpose aerial refueling and transport aircraft of the Air Force, is taking off to repatriate the remains of General Hong Beom-do.

According to the military on the 13th, the Presidential Special Envoy Delegation (Special Envoy) for repatriating General Hong Beom-do's remains is scheduled to depart from Seoul Airport on the morning of the 14th aboard an Air Force special transport plane and arrive in Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan in the afternoon.

The Special Envoy will then attend a memorial service held at General Hong Beom-do's gravesite and arrive in Korea on the evening of August 15, Liberation Day. After a two-day national mourning period on the 16th and 17th, the remains will be interred at Daejeon National Cemetery on the 18th.

The Air Force transport plane previously carried out the mission of repatriating the remains of South Korean soldiers who died in the Korean War, which were excavated from North Korea and moved to Hawaii, USA, in June last year. Recently, it was also deployed for the return of Cheonghae Unit members who were infected with COVID-19 in a group outbreak.

The Air Force introduced the first KC-330 in January 2019 to perform missions such as fighter refueling, transporting citizens during overseas disasters and accidents, transporting cargo and troops for overseas deployed units, and supporting international peacekeeping activities. Currently, four units are in operation.

With a wingspan of 60.3m, length of 58.8m, and height of 17.4m, except for the fuel tanks and rear refueling equipment, the rest is identical to a passenger aircraft, capable of transporting up to about 300 personnel and 47 tons of cargo. Its maximum speed is Mach 0.86, maximum cruising altitude is approximately 12,600m, and maximum range is about 15,320 km.