"Every day, the sound of bombs"...97 Lebanese Koreans Returned Safely

[Anchor]
Amid a ground war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, 97 people, including Koreans and their families in Lebanon, returned home safely.

Along with the activities of the Air Force's multipurpose transport aircraft 'Signus', close cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense enabled the evacuation operation to be carried out quickly.

Reporter Cho Soo-hyun reports.

[Reporter]
Parents with their young children in their arms get off the military transport plane "Signers" when they arrive at Seoul Airport.

Ninety-six Koreans and one Lebanese family member who were staying in Lebanon returned home safely aboard Cygnus.

[Kim Seo-kyung / Staying in Lebanon: The sound of bombs every day was so loud that my house was shaking, I couldn't sleep at night and it was hard. [I'm so glad that he's alive and I'm so thankful that he arrived safely]

[Kim Ara (Kim Seo-kyung's daughter): Thank you for saving me]

The government has decided to deploy military aircraft to evacuate our people as civilian flights connecting Lebanon and the outside world have virtually disappeared.

As a result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' rapid response team along with Cygnus was dispatched to Lebanon on the 3rd.

In the meantime, Korean residents gathered in Beirut, the capital, to escape the bombing, and Cygnus, who arrived in Beirut on the 4th local time, picked them up and immediately returned.

[Lee Jae-yong / Head of the Foreign Ministry's Quick Response Team: More than 30% of 97 people are minors. There were many young and young Koreans, so I was able to feel more rewarded.]

{ 주유}Signus, also known as the 'gas station in the sky', has been deployed several times in the past to withdraw Korean residents from dangerous areas.

This time, a "Super Hercules" transport plane that can take off and land on short runways was also deployed in case of a local emergency, but there was no necessary situation.

[Park Sung-tae / Air Force Major/Signus Pilot: I think it's meaningful because I can contribute to the fulfillment of the nation's duty of protecting overseas citizens]

There are still about 30 Korean residents in Lebanon, and missionaries, including the ambassador to Lebanon, did not evacuate this time and remained there with them.

Meanwhile, the government has decided to provide humanitarian aid worth 3 million dollars and 4 billion won to Lebanon to ease the difficulties of local residents and quickly return to their daily lives.

I'm Jo Suhyun of YTN.


Courtesy of the screen: Ministry of National Defense Co-operation Foundation
Reporter for shooting
: Jeong Jin-hyun

Video Edit: Jung Kook-yoon