Photo : YONHAP News
The government and the ruling camp are considering evacuating approximately 20-thousand South Koreans, including some four-thousand tourists and short-term visitors, from 13 Middle Eastern countries.
Democratic Party(DP) Rep. Kim Young-bae, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, said the foreign ministry had reported the estimated figure to the government and the DP at the National Assembly on Tuesday in the wake of the latest conflict in the Middle East.
The figure includes 59 South Koreans in Iran and 616 in Israel but excludes embassy personnel.
Kim said the government and the DP are considering whether it is possible to evacuate such Koreans to countries whose airspace has not been closed.
Currently, Iran, Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait have closed their airspace.