C-130 dispatched to evacuate Koreans in Sudan

Smoke billows in Khartoum, Sudan on Thursday, as fighting between the country's army and rival paramilitary forces continues. [YONHAP VIA AFP]

Korea will send a military transport aircraft to evacuate its nationals from Sudan as clashes continue between the country's armed forces and paramilitary groups, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

The planned evacuation will involve a C-130J transport aircraft and 50 military personnel, including security and medical staff.

The evacuation mission was set into motion after the National Security Office reported the worsening situation in Sudan to President Yoon Suk Yeol, who then ordered Seoul’s foreign and defense ministries to undertake swift measures to protect “the safety of our overseas nationals under all circumstances.”

The military transport aircraft is expected to depart later in the day, according to a government official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.

The Defense Ministry said that the Korean military contingent charged with carrying out the evacuation will “be on standby at a U.S. military base in Djibouti,” given that the airport in Sudan’s capital Khartoum is currently closed amid ongoing fighting.

Clashes between the Sudanese military and the rival Rapid Support Force (RSF), led by rival generals, broke out across Sudan on Saturday after the RSF launched a surprise attack on multiple Sudanese army bases.

The two sides struck a ceasefire that was supposed to begin on Tuesday night, as well as another set to take effect on Wednesday evening, but neither agreement has been able to stem the ongoing bloodshed.

Fierce fighting has continued unabated especially in Khartoum, where the RSF has managed to capture several government ministries and is using these “civilian institutions to manage their combat activities,” according to the Sudanese military.

According to the Korean Foreign Ministry’s last survey of overseas Korean nationals published in 2021, there were 40 Koreans resident in Sudan, of which 38 lived in Khartoum.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]