▲ South Korean nationals arrive at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on March 5, 2026, after evacuating from conflict-hit regions in the Middle East. (Yonhap)

S Korea-Japan-Mideast crisis

11 S. Koreans flee Saudi Arabia on Japan's chartered flight amid Middle East conflict

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) -- Eleven South Koreans fled Saudi Arabia on a Japanese chartered flight to return home amid the widening conflict in the Middle East, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The 11 people and a foreign family member were among those evacuated from Riyadh aboard the chartered plane Tuesday (local time), the ministry said. The plane landed in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon.

Japan has been arranging chartered flights to bring back its nationals from the Middle East region, according to Japanese news reports.

A chartered plane, the second such flight arranged by the Japanese government, brought home 281 people from Riyadh early Tuesday, with at least two more chartered flights expected to bring back its nationals from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, news reports said.

The flight carrying South Koreans marks the latest case of cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo in evacuating their citizens from conflict-hit regions.

In October 2023, a South Korean military transport aircraft evacuated 163 South Korean and 45 Japanese nationals from Israel at the height of attacks by the Hamas militant group.

In a reciprocal move, Japan allowed 33 South Koreans to board a Self-Defense Forces plane when it evacuated its nationals from Israel in the same month.

Seoul and Tokyo later signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in evacuating nationals in the event of an emergency in a third country.

Separately, 29 South Koreans and a foreign family member from Kuwait arrived in Saudi Arabia by land Wednesday (Seoul time), the foreign ministry said, as the government continues efforts to help its citizens evacuate.

Twenty-five others also crossed into Saudi Arabia from Iraq over the past two days.

The government plans to dispatch an additional joint government response team to Saudi Arabia to assist with the evacuation, the ministry said.

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