Photo courtesy of Yonhap News
As shelling continued in the Donbas region, a disputed area in eastern Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an emergency notice to local residents to withdraw.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the embassy in Ukraine has made an urgent notice to Korean citizens staying in the country to evacuate and withdraw as soon as possible due to the bombardment of the Donbas area.
Since the 12th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already issued an emergency level 4 travel ban, which is the highest level of travel warning, across Ukraine and has supported the evacuation of Koreans.
As a result, the number of Korean residents residing in the country continues to decrease.
Currently, there are 68 Koreans residing in Ukraine, including government officials and permanent residents.
Initially, 341 people stayed on the 11th, but it has decreased to one-seventh.
As regarding 40 additional people are planning to leave the country in the future, the number of Korean residents is expected to decrease further.
At the local embassy, regarding 30 people who have expressed their intention to remain are persuading them to change their positions and move to a safe area such as Lviv or leave early.
In addition, we are distributing emergency kits and backpacks for evacuation sequentially, while providing information on evacuation shelters such as local air-raid shelters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened and is operating temporary offices in Lviv, Ukraine and Psemisil, Poland, since the 16th.