President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony marking the April 19 Revolution on Wednesday. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the government to prepare a warplane to evacuate South Koreans in Sudan, a country rocked by a power struggle between its military and a state-sponsored militia called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to a statement released by Yoon’s office Friday, the president had told his defense and foreign ministers to draw up the plan as part of broader safety contingencies amid the escalating clashes that erupted Saturday. Street battles have since left Sudanese without water or food. The RSF said it had agreed to a 72-hour truce effective from 6 a.m. Friday.
“We should do everything we can to protect fellow Koreans (in Sudan),” Yoon said in the statement. The National Security Office will be in charge of running a 24/7 interagency response team that will “closely monitor the latest developments” in Khartoum, the capital city under fire, the statement added.
In a separate statement that followed, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul raised its alert to the highest level, adding that all twenty-six South Koreans in Sudan, including diplomatic personnel, are safe. The ministry said it will work with the Defense Ministry on deploying a rescue team.
A warplane carrying a small group of troops will assist their return, according to the Defense Ministry. It did not elaborate on when the flight will take place.
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