97 Nationals and Families in Lebanon Returned Safely by Military Transport Air

[Anchor]
Amid the recent rapid deterioration of the situation in the Middle East, 97 people, including South Koreans and their families, who were staying in Lebanon, returned home by government-provided military transport planes.

There are still about 30 Koreans in Lebanon and 480 Koreans in Israel, and the government continues to recommend an early departure.

I'm connecting with the reporter. Reporter Jo Suhyun!

A military transport plane carrying our people in Lebanon arrived in Korea safely today?

[Reporter]
Yes, the Ministry of National Defense said a military transport plane carrying 97 people, including 96 Koreans and their families, landed at Seongnam Seoul Airport at around 12:50 p.m. today.

You can see parents getting off the military transport plane 'Signus' with their young children on the screen now.

The deployment of the transport aircraft comes after President Yoon ordered the immediate input of military assets for the safe withdrawal of our people.

On the 3rd, the government sent a quick response team to Lebanon, headed by the Foreign Ministry's Consular Security Administration, along with Cygnus.

Cygnus arrived in Beirut on the morning of the 4th local time, picked up our people, and returned on the afternoon of the same day.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol sent a text message directly to Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rasheed Bu-Khabib, asking for the Lebanese government's cooperation for a safe return.

Since the withdrawal, more than 30 Korean residents remain in Lebanon, including the ambassador to Lebanon, but have not withdrawn and remained there with them.

More than 480 Koreans are staying in Israel.

Since July, the government has strongly urged South Koreans who have been staying in Lebanon and Israel to leave the country on available flights and ships as soon as possible.

However, after the recent ground war between Israel and Lebanon began, it became difficult to leave Lebanon by private flight, and the government decided to deploy military transport planes in consideration of the withdrawal trends of other countries such as Germany, Japan, and the UK.

The government emphasized that it will continue to closely monitor the situation in the Middle East and take various safety measures to ensure the safety of our people staying in the Middle East.

At the same time, it said it had decided to provide $3 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon and hoped it would help ease the difficulties of local residents and return to their daily lives as soon as possible.

I'm Jo Suhyun of YTN in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.