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local operation is underway to bring local employees and their families to Korea who have supported the Korean government's activities in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent three military transport planes to the field to safely transport them to Korea.
By Kim Hye-young, staff reporter.
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Korean government has sent three military transport aircraft to Afghanistan and neighboring countries to bring Afghan people to Korea.
The people brought to Korea this time are locals and their families who have worked with the Korean government for many years, working at the Korean embassy in Afghanistan, at Korean hospitals, and at vocational training centers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained.
The South Korean government dispatched non-combat units to the US request for assistance, which invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
Although the military units were withdrawn in December 2007, the government supported the reconstruction of Afghanistan together with the international community until the recent transfer of the regime to the Taliban, and in the process, many locals were hired.
In particular, from 2010 to 2014, the government sent a local reconstruction team to operate local hospitals and vocational training centers, cooperating with many locals.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not disclose the number of Afghans to be repatriated to Korea, but Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, recently mentioned that about 400 Afghans who participated in the local reconstruction project should be brought to Korea.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the U.S. has decided to no longer consider temporarily accepting Afghan refugees at U.S. military bases in South Korea and Japan.