203 S. Koreans return from Abu Dhabi aboard chartered flight

SEOUL — More than 200 South Korean nationals who had been stranded in the United Arab Emirates due to the escalating US-Iran conflict returned home Monday aboard a chartered flight.

The Etihad Airways plane, carrying 203 South Koreans and three family members of other nationalities, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, in the early morning, about 8 hours after departing from Abu Dhabi.

It marked the first chartered flight organized by Seoul to bring back South Korean nationals from the UAE amid the widening conflict that has disrupted air traffic in the region.

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The foreign ministry estimates about 1,400 South Koreans remain in the UAE as short-term travelers. It expects them to gradually return home as commercial flights resume.

Families embraced each other as they were reunited at the airport, with a 4-year-old shouting, “Daddy,” as he ran to his father, who had been waiting for his arrival.

The boy’s mother, Kim Bora, who arrived back home with her son, said she was able to book the chartered flight after getting in touch with the foreign ministry the previous day.

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“While evacuations have become routine, air raid sirens are still frightening,” said Kim, who lives in Dubai.

Others voiced relief that they were able to return safely due to the chartered flight.

“The war broke out around the day I was set to go home, so it became difficult to return, but I think I was able to return relatively comfortably,” Lee Sang-beom, a 24-year-old, said. “I understand there are still a lot of South Koreans there, and I hope they all return safely with more of such opportunities.”

The foreign ministry has been making efforts to bring back South Koreans stranded in the region, dispatching a joint rapid response team to the UAE to assist evacuation operations. (Yonhap) /dl