S. Korean evacuees return from Sudan

Korean nationals are pictured aboard a military aircraft en route to Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia after being evacuated from strife-torn Sudan in this photo released by South Korea's Foreign Ministry, Tuesday. (Yonhap)

A group of 28 South Korean nationals returned home from strife-torn Sudan on Tuesday afternoon, as part of a five-day evacuation operation that involved cooperation with the US, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The group aboard a KC-330 multirole tanker aircraft arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at 3:57 p.m.

South Korea was the first country in Asia to have completed the rescue mission, according to a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on condition of anonymity, calling it "the most difficult rescue operation" of her career.

Korea had 29 nationals in the northeast African country. One chose to remain in Sudan.

They departed the besieged Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Sunday and detoured over 1,170 kilometers by land to Port Sudan at around 2:40 p.m. local time on Monday. From Port Sudan, which is approximately 850 kilometers from the Sudanese capital by the shortest road distance, they were transported via a Korean military plane, the C-130 Hercules, to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates' support in guiding their way out of Khartoum facilitated Korea's evacuation by land from Khartoum to Port Sudan, according to officials.

"We express our deep gratitude for the active cooperation of our partners, including the United States, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in conducting Operation Promise," said Lim Jong-deuk, second deputy director of the National Security Office, in announcing the completion of the evacuation operation Monday night.

"In particular, the role of the brotherly country UAE, where President Yoon Suk Yeol visited in January, was significant."

The Yoon Suk Yeol government established a task force on Friday to evacuate Korean nationals from Sudan.

Korean national security adviser Cho Tae-yong was in charge of commanding evacuation operations as Yoon was headed to Washington for a summit with US President Joe Biden. Yoon was briefed on the evacuation operation in a videoconference while en route.

Korea dispatched the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft carrying the 707th Special Mission Group, an elite counterterrorism unit under the South Korean Army Special Warfare Command, as well as an Air Force Combat Control Team. The C-130 Hercules landed at a US military base in Djibouti on Saturday.

The KC-330 multirole tanker aircraft of the Air Force arrived at Jeddah International Airport on Monday to aid evacuation efforts.

Korea's Cheonghae Unit and Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin destroyer, which were previously deployed for anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, have also been sent near war-torn Sudan to support the operations. The Cheonghae Unit was docked at the Port of Salalah in Oman.

The Sudanese Army and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces have been engaged in fierce fighting over control of Sudan since April 15, triggering a humanitarian crisis and resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of foreigners being stranded.

Other countries, including Germany, Sweden, the US and the UK, have also rushed to get their citizens to safety.

By Ji Da-gyum(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)

Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)