South Korea's efforts to evacuate its citizens from Libya got into full swing Friday, with a series of charter flights set to bring hundreds of them out of the African nation engulfed in bloody political turmoil, Yonhap reported.
Should the evacuation plan proceed as scheduled, there would be 575 South Koreans remaining in Libya, down from a peak of some 1,400, a foreign ministry official said. Those remaining are believed to be intended to stay there for now, but they could change their minds if the situation worsens, he said.
Three charter flights have been mobilized for the evacuation.
An Egypt Airlines flight arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli and was preparing to return to Cairo, carrying 198 South Korean passengers, down from the originally expected full capacity of 260 passengers, the official said.
A Korean Air flight, which can carry 330 passengers, was also scheduled to land in Tripoli around 6 p.m. local time. The official said that the fewer-than-expected passengers on the Egypt Airlines flight might be because more people chose to take the Korean Air flight heading to Rome and then to South Korea.
A third charter flight, which is also from Egypt Airlines, was scheduled to depart Cairo at 2:30 p.m. for Surte in central Libya, the official said. Sixty-eight South Koreans and their foreign co-workers are scheduled to take the flight to Cairo, he said.
In addition, 77 South Koreans plan to leave for Tunisia by land later Friday, the official said.
In eastern regions near the port city of Benghazi, 56 South Koreans already exited Libya by land and arrived in nearby Egypt and 50 others left the port aboard a Turkish ship, the official said.
South Korea has also directed a warship, which has been conducting anti-piracy operations near Somalia, to head to Libya to help evacuate South Koreans in case other evacuation means are limited.
"This is to prepare for the worst case such as airport shutdowns," the official said.
The 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young left the Gulf of Aden on Thursday afternoon and is expected to reach Libya in the first week of March, officials said.