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Yoon Ju-seok (center), head of the second contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), receives a briefing on the catastrophic flood disaster from local Red Cross personnel during a visit to Nuwakot District in Bagmati Province, north-central Nepal, on the 14th local time. / Yonhap News

The second contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), deployed to respond to the floods in Nepal, has launched an on-site survey for local reconstruction and recovery efforts.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 15th, the second KDRT batch conducted the survey the previous day by visiting local healthcare facilities and Red Cross relief operations.

In parallel, the team held consultations with Nepalese authorities to continue search operations for nine unaccounted-for South Korean nationals. The ministry stated, "We are pursuing drone-based search operations on the 15th with cooperation from the Nepalese military, to the extent permitted by the Nepalese government in terms of safety."

Meanwhile, the ministry announced that it has established a joint operational framework with Nepalese authorities to identify flood victims. Through this mechanism, the South Korean government is expected to receive real-time updates regarding the identification of recovered remains.

A foreign ministry official told reporters that day, "It is difficult to visually identify the remains recovered at the scene," adding, "We have installed our DNA analysis equipment at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, and two South Korean experts have commenced joint operations with their Nepalese counterparts."

                                                                                                           Mok Yong-jae