Tag: Israel

Another example of the increasing cooperation between South Korea and Japan. Previously South Korea had flew Japanese citizens out of Israel as well:

This Kyodo News photo, filed Oct. 23, 2023, shows a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force aircraft parked at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on Oct. 21, after returning from Israel with Japanese nationals, 18 South Koreans and one foreign family member in an evacuation from the war-torn region. (Yonhap)

A Japanese aircraft carrying a group of South Korean nationals, along with its own people, returned from Israel on Friday, Seoul’s foreign ministry said, the second such flight Japan has offered after South Korea brought Japanese citizens home on its plane last month. 

The Air Self-Defense Force aircraft carrying 15 South Koreans and one foreign national family member related to a Korean national landed at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, at 6:45 p.m., the foreign ministry said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

A rally held in support of Palestine in Seoul on Sunday. Participants, ranging from Koreans to citizens of Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the region, uphold signs urging Israel to stop bombing Gaza. [YONHAP]

By Korean rally standards this is a very small group, however it did have U.S. embassy officials attend this rally in Seoul in support of Israel:

The flags of Israel and Korea held by participants of a rally in Seoul on Tuesday in support of Israel in the wake of the Hamas militant group’s attack on Israel and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. [NEWS1]

Hundreds of Koreans and Israelis in Korea rallied to support Israel in Seoul on Tuesday as top diplomats from Israel and the United States stood side-by-side to voice support for the Jewish state in the wake of Hamas’s brutal attack on Oct. 7. 
  
“Thank you to all the Jewish and Israeli people living in Korea for coming today to Gwanghwamun and not giving in to fear or anxiety,” said Akiva Tor, ambassador of Israel to Korea, addressing the crowd gathered near Gwanghwamun Station in Seoul on Tuesday, many waving the flag of Israel. “I would like to thank the Republic of Korea’s government for its strong statements of condemnation of the Hamas atrocities and for being a friend to Israel.”

The rally, organized by the Korea-Israel Friendship Association and Israel Forum, was joined by some 200 participants, according to the organizers.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Fortunately according to the article no South Korean citizens were killed or kidnapped by Hamas:

South Korean tourists wait in line to check in for their return flight at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Oct. 10, 2023, amid an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas militants. (Yonhap)

A South Korean passenger jet carrying dozens of citizens is set to return home from Israel, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, after violence erupted between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

The Korean Air Co. flight carrying 214 passengers, including 192 Korean nationals, departed from Tel Aviv at 1:50 p.m. Tuesday (local time) and is expected to arrive at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at around 6:10 a.m. on Wednesday.

It will be the first flight to transport South Koreans back home since tensions quickly escalated in the region after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel over the weekend.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It will now be harder for anyone in Korea looking to travel to Israel with Korean Air canceling flights to the country:

Korean Air Co. has canceled its flights from Incheon to Tel Aviv this week amid safety concerns over the escalating conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, according to company officials Monday.

South Korea’s leading air carrier has canceled all three KE957 flights from Incheon to Tel Aviv, which run regularly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for the week.

The company, however, has kept in place the returning KE958 flights, which transport passengers from Tel Aviv to Incheon. It plans to decide whether to operate the return flights after reviewing the airport situation in Tel Aviv.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Israeli system would further improve the ROK’s detection capabilities against drone attacks, but does not solve their inability to shoot them down:

 South Korea’s military is considering the purchase of an Israeli “electric eye” as part of efforts to bolster its capabilities to detect small North Korean drones, a defense source in Seoul said Sunday.

The move comes as the South’s defense authorities have come under fierce criticism for the failure to counter the penetration of five North Korean drones into its airspace late last month. It was belatedly revealed that one of them even intruded into the no-fly zone, called P-73, near the presidential office in the central district of Yongsan.

In order to beef up its airspace defense system, the military is considering pushing for the speedy acquisition of the Sky Spotter system, according to the source.

Built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, it is designed for the early detection and tracking of such aerial objects, including drones, as well as balloons and kites, that are used for terrorist attacks.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Israel is taking some very stringent measures against Korean visitors to stop the spread of the coronavirus because of recent pilgrims from Korea that brought the virus to the country:

On Sunday, the Israeli government officially issued an entry ban on foreign citizens coming from Korea and Japan starting Monday. 

Israel has already banned visitors coming from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Thailand.

A plane from Korea that landed in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport Saturday evening, carrying some 200 non-Israelis, was refused entry and forced to return to Korea with nearly all its original passengers just two hours later.

Several media outlets in Korea, citing the Israeli Travel Ministry’s office in Seoul, reported Sunday that Israel would also confine all 1,600 or so Koreans currently on Israeli soil to their current lodgings for 14 days, the amount of time the virus is believed to incubate in a human body. 

Korea’s Foreign Ministry denied the allegation, saying it confirmed with the Israeli government that no such measure would be enforced. The ministry added that it lodged a complaint with the Israeli government about the latter’s refusal to admit the passengers of Saturday’s flight from Korea. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.