▲ This Reuters photo shows members of the Nepal Army heading back after collecting bodies that were washed away by flash floods and a mudslide, in Narayani River, Chitwan, Nepal, on Aug. 31, 2026. (Yonhap)
▲ Members of the government's joint rapid response team board a helicopter at a domestic airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Aug. 29, 2026, for a search operation, in this photo provided by Seoul's foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(ATTN: REWRITES lead; ADDS more details in last 6 paras)

By Oh Seok-min

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean disaster relief team was set to leave for Nepal late Tuesday to support search, rescue and other relief efforts following devastating floods, the foreign ministry said.

The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), consisting of 44 personnel from the foreign ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), fire authorities and other agencies, will depart for Nepal aboard a South Korean military transport plane later in the day, according to the foreign ministry.

The team will stay in Nepal for about 10 days, conducting search and rescue operations for victims, including the nine South Koreans who remain unaccounted for, it added.

The massive floods and mudslides hit Nepal's north-central Himalayan region near the Nepal-Tibet border last Wednesday, killing more than 800 people and leaving around 3,000 others missing, according to foreign media reports.

The KDRT is a statutory emergency response unit deployed to provide disaster relief, search and rescue, medical assistance and other support overseas.

"The deployment comes as the Nepali government requested our assistance in search and rescue operations in areas affected by the worsening floods in the Rasuwa district," the ministry said in a release.

"We will continue to coordinate with the Nepali government and actively explore ways to provide assistance needed on the ground," it added.

The government sent a separate rapid response team to Nepal last week, which has been conducting ground and aerial searches for the nine missing South Koreans.

The nine -- six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three of Korea South-East Power Co. -- were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in Rasuwa district when the floods struck the area.

South Korea earlier announced US$1 million in humanitarian assistance to Nepal through international organizations over the disaster.

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