▲ A South Korean family poses for photos aboard a military evacuation plane on March 15, 2026, amid the Middle East conflict, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ A South Korean family poses with an Air Force officer aboard a military plane bringing them and more than 200 others home from Saudi Arabia on March 15, 2026, in an evacuation operation amid the Middle East conflict, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ A KC-330 Cygnus multirole aerial tanker of the South Korean Air Force, carrying 211 South Korean nationals and foreigners, takes off from an airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 14, 2026, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ South Korean nationals and officials of a government rapid response team, wearing yellow vests, wait to board a military plane to return home from Saudi Arabia on March 14, 2026, in this photo provided by the foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) S Korea-Mideast evacuation

(3rd LD) Military aircraft lands in Seoul with 211 S. Koreans, foreigners from Saudi Arabia

(ATTN: ADDS comments from Lee in paras 4-5)

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean military transport aircraft bringing home 204 nationals from Saudi Arabia arrived in Seoul on Sunday evening, in the first airlift evacuation using a military plane since the conflict began in the Middle East late last month.

A KC-330 Cygnus multirole aerial tanker carrying 204 South Koreans and seven foreign nationals landed at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of the capital, at 5:59 p.m.

The operation, codenamed "Desert Shine," came as thousands of South Korean nationals remain stranded in the Middle East due to flight disruptions as the conflict between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran has escalated into a wider regional war.

President Lee Jae Myung expressed gratitude to those involved in the operation.

"I appreciate everyone involved in this operation for working day and night for its success under these difficult circumstances," he wrote on social media platform X, calling it "a meaningful outcome borne of cooperation across government agencies."

Those aboard the Cygnus tanker had been staying in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia before traveling to Riyadh to board the military aircraft.

More than 140 of them were in Saudi Arabia, while 24 had come from Bahrain, 14 from Kuwait and 28 from Lebanon.

Among those on board were two Japanese nationals, along with one American, one Australian, one New Zealander, one Irish national and one Filipino national.

Seoul has asked at least 10 relevant countries to help secure flight routes for the military aircraft to safely return home from Riyadh, officials said.

Many Koreans have returned home from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar after the two Gulf countries accepted South Korea's request to allow commercial and chartered flights to operate on a limited basis.

But it has become difficult for those remaining elsewhere in the region to find flights out of the countries, leading the government to mobilize a military aircraft to bring them home, a foreign ministry official said.

Seoul had reportedly sought to arrange flights through talks with airlines and other relevant parties in Saudi Arabia and at home but ultimately resorted to using a military plane due to safety concerns.

It is the seventh case in which military aircraft were sent to evacuate citizens from a conflict zone overseas. The last airlift took place in 2024, when a military plane brought back 96 South Koreans from Lebanon amid the armed clash between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.

(END)

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