SEOUL (Reuters) : A South Korean military transport aircraft is evacuating 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon amid escalating tension and will return to South Korea on Saturday afternoon, the country’s foreign ministry said.
A KC-330 aircraft landed in Beirut on Friday morning and departed in the afternoon with the evacuees, who include Lebanese family members, and will arrive at a military airfield on the south of the capital, Seoul, it said.
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday ordered military aircraft to be deployed immediately to evacuate its citizens from parts of the Middle East affected by escalating tension in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The government will take further actions to ensure the safety of its citizens, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.
South Korean diplomats stationed in Lebanon remained in the country, Yonhap news agency reported.