Nine of 10 South Korean nationals stranded by catastrophic flooding in Nepal's Rasuwa district were airlifted to safety on Thursday, 27 August, by a Nepalese military helicopter, even as nine other South Koreans remain missing following a devastating flash flood and mudslide that struck the area a day earlier, Seoul's foreign ministry confirmed.

Who Was Stranded and How They Were Evacuated

All 10 South Koreans are affiliated with plant builder Doosan Enerbility Co. and had been working on the Upper Trishuli-1 (UT-1) hydropower plant on the Trishuli River, approximately 70 kilometres northwest of Kathmandu. After the flood struck, they had taken shelter at a temporary site alongside roughly 200 foreign employees engaged in the construction project.

Nine of the group were transported by helicopter to a safer location earlier on Thursday. The tenth, identified as a Doosan site manager, voluntarily remained at the construction site. 'The remaining person will stay at the site until all other employees, including local workers, have been evacuated,' a ministry official said. All 10 are reported to be in good health and were expected to travel to Kathmandu by Friday.

Nine Others Still Unaccounted For

Separately, nine South Koreans — six Doosan employees and three from the state-run Korea South-East Power Co. — remain unaccounted for after Wednesday's flash flood and mudslide. Officials noted that the missing workers had been staying in different areas from those who were stranded, and that many offices and accommodations in those zones are believed to have been swept away entirely.

The scale of the broader disaster is severe: the death toll has climbed to at least 165, with 826 people reported missing — many of them foreigners — according to foreign media reports. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has confirmed that a glacial collapse and debris flow caused the catastrophic downstream impacts.

Seoul's Emergency Response

An 11-member rapid response team comprising officials from the foreign ministry, police, and fire authorities departed for Nepal on Thursday and was scheduled to arrive in Kathmandu that evening. 'The team will work closely with our embassy in Nepal and Nepalese authorities to make every effort to search for and rescue our nationals,' ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said at a press briefing.

Park also noted that approximately 20,000 South Koreans visit Nepal each year for tourism, and that authorities were checking whether any other nationals had been affected. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun indicated that a larger-scale rescue team — potentially 'dozens of people' — could be deployed if necessary. Cho also held phone talks with Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, expressing condolences and requesting active support for the search and rescue effort.

During an emergency meeting on Thursday, President Lee Jae Myung directed officials to mobilise all available resources to safeguard citizens' lives and safety.

Impact on the Hydropower Project

Both Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power Co. have established emergency response teams and dispatched field units to the site. The 216-megawatt UT-1 facility, which began construction in January 2022 and was scheduled for completion and commercial operation by year-end, is expected to face significant delays due to flood damage at the site.

Access to the affected area remains severely hampered by widespread destruction and rugged terrain, with officials noting that further on-ground coordination is needed before search and rescue operations can be fully scaled up.