South Korea extends effective travel ban to all of Russia's Kursk region

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South Korea extends effective travel ban to all of Russia's Kursk region

Published: 21 Nov. 2024, 20:36

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

A side-by-side map showing the areas designated for a Level 4 four travel ban in Russia's Kursk region before and after the new announcement expanding the ban by South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Thursday. [MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS]

The South Korean government will issue a Level 4 travel warning, the strongest warning in its four-tier system, for the Kursk region in Russia starting Friday, the Foreign Ministry announced Thursday.

South Korea had previously issued a Level 4 travel warning for parts of five Russian regions — Rostov, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk and Bryansk oblasts — within 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of the Ukrainian border.

The latest adjustment extends the travel warning to all of Kursk oblast.

Additionally, the North Caucasus region and parts of border regions with Ukraine that were not included in the Level 4 warning are under a Level 3 warning.

The Foreign Ministry asked Korean citizens to cancel travel plans to the designated areas. The ministry further warned that citizens visiting the area will be punished per the Passport Act and other related regulations.

The war in Ukraine has escalated in recent days with Kyiv’s attacks into Russian territory with American-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and British-made Storm Shadow missiles on Tuesday and Wednesday and Russia's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strike on Ukraine on Thursday.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it shot down two Storm Shadow air-to-ground cruise missiles the day before.

A view shows a destroyed bridge, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region of Ukraine on Nov. 4. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

In its daily report on the “special military operation,” as the war in Ukraine is called in Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian air defense systems had shot down two Storm Shadow missiles, six High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rockets and 67 drones over the previous 24 hours.

The ministry did not specify the location where these interceptions took place.

Seoul is on high alert as Moscow's new nuclear doctrine and Russia’s continued military cooperation with North Korea heightens concerns that tensions will spread to the Korean Peninsula.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]