"Tureukie, the fourth largest troop contributor to the Korea War"
Decision to provide first humanitarian aid worth 5 million dollars
[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The government decided on the 7th to dispatch a South Korean Emergency Relief Team (KDRT) of about 110 personnel to T?rkiye, which suffered massive casualties due to a strong earthquake.
On the same day, the government officially approved this plan at the Joint Public-Private Overseas Emergency Relief Council held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul, chaired by Foreign Minister Park Jin. The relief team, consisting of about 60 members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Fire Agency, and KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), will be joined by an additional 50 military personnel, bringing the total to approximately 110 people to be dispatched on site.
This is the largest single dispatch scale among the emergency relief teams (KDRT) the government has sent overseas so far. Although the government dispatched a total of 127 personnel in 2013 to support the Philippines after a typhoon, that deployment was divided into four waves. Emergency relief teams were also dispatched in response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2018 Laos Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy dam accident.
Compared to European countries geographically closer to T?rkiye, whose dispatch scale is known to be around 60 to 80 personnel, the Korean emergency relief team is considerably large. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official explained, "T?rkiye is a friendly country that sent the fourth largest number of troops during the Korean War and maintains a strategic partnership with South Korea. Considering the friendly relations between the two countries, we decided to dispatch as many personnel as possible this time."
The Korean emergency relief team will determine its operational areas and missions through consultations with other countries' emergency relief teams and the United Nations on site, and plans to cooperate closely with the Turkish government and the international community, the government said.
The emergency relief team is expected to be organized mainly as a search and rescue team at the request of the Turkish side. The Ministry of National Defense personnel to be dispatched will be composed of members from the Army Special Warfare Command and will carry out search, rescue, and medical duties.
The military initially planned to dispatch only personnel necessary for operating the transport aircraft and relief supplies but changed the plan after discussions to include personnel capable of participating in missions. The focus on search and rescue personnel is understood to be due to the need to find missing persons buried under debris as quickly as possible, considering the low temperatures at the site.
The government received an official request from the Turkish government for the dispatch of a rescue team the day before and held a director-level inter-agency meeting. Subsequently, a preliminary investigation team consisting of three members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 119 Special Rescue Team, and KOICA was urgently sent to the site the previous night. Additionally, Foreign Minister Park Jin expressed active support intentions during a phone call with Salih Murat Tamer, the Turkish Ambassador to South Korea, on the morning of the same day.
All members of the Korean emergency relief team plan to travel to the site aboard the military's KC-330 multipurpose transport aircraft. President Yoon Suk-yeol previously ordered the dispatch of rescue personnel using military transport aircraft to support T?rkiye's earthquake relief efforts. Although the government aims to dispatch the relief team as soon as possible considering the local situation, the departure time remains flexible due to the time required for transport aircraft preparation, negotiations for airspace passage cooperation, and administrative coordination with Turkish authorities regarding aircraft landing.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lim Soo-seok said about the dispatch timing, "It will be decided based on the local situation, especially the stabilization of facilities such as the airport," and added, "We will closely coordinate with the Turkish government for this."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs established the T?rkiye Overseas Emergency Relief Headquarters, headed by First Vice Minister Cho Hyun-dong, to ensure swift relief implementation. Additionally, two officials, including the Overseas Safety Consul from the Korean Embassy in T?rkiye, were separately dispatched to the affected area to confirm the safety of Korean nationals and support evacuation.
Humanitarian aid to T?rkiye was also decided. The government will initially provide humanitarian aid worth 5 million USD (approximately 6.3 billion KRW) and deliver emergency relief supplies such as medicines via military transport aircraft. For Syria, a neighboring country also affected, support will be provided once international organizations announce humanitarian aid needs. Since South Korea has no diplomatic relations with Syria and direct communication is difficult, support is expected to be carried out through international organizations.
Meanwhile, regarding the magnitude 5.9 earthquake that occurred on the 28th of last month in the northwestern border region of Iran, the government decided to provide humanitarian aid worth 300,000 USD to Iran at the request of the United Nations. This aid decision attracted attention as it followed a diplomatic strain after President Yoon Suk-yeol's remark during his visit that "the enemy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is Iran." A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official explained, "We considered the humanitarian perspective of Korea-Iran relations and the UN's requests for humanitarian aid to various countries."
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