"Life is normal... no question of evacuating Indians from South Korea": MEA
Dec 13, 2024
New Delhi [India], December 13 : The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal clarified on Friday that there is no need for the evacuation of Indian nationals or students from South Korea, as "life in the country is normal" following the political turmoil in the nation.
The remarks by Jaiswal came during a weekly press briefing in New Delhi.
He said, "Life in South Korea continues. There have been domestic developments but life is normal. So there is no question of evacuation of Indian students or Indian nationals from South Korea."
Jaiswal further stated that South Korea is home to around 15,000 Indian nationals, including 5,000 students and professionals.
"We have some 15,000 Indian nationals in South Korea. Around 5,000 of them are students. The rest of them are professionals but life is normal. The question of evacuation doesn't arise," the MEA spokesperson said.
Earlier on December 6, Jaiswal noted the strong defence cooperation and people-to-people ties between New Delhi and Seoul, and affirmed hope that the political turmoil would come under control there.
"We are obviously monitoring the developments in South Korea. We have very strong investment trade linkages. We have very strong defense cooperation with South Korea. We also have very strong people to people ties with South Korea. We also have a large number of internationals who live in South Korea. All these developments, we continue to maintain a close watch, so that if there is any eventuality or anything these may have bearing on safety of our Indian nationals as also bearing on our interests, we maintain a closed watch. And hopefully, we hope that the situation in the country will stabilize soon," he said.
The political row in South Korea erupted after President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday, declared martial law in the country citing threats from "anti-state forces" and North Korean sympathisers.
Notably, South Korea's ruling People Power Party (PPP) has now supported moves to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, following his controversial declaration of martial law, which sparked a political crisis and widespread public outrage, CNN reported on Thursday.
The decision came shortly before Yoon gave a defiant speech in which he defended his controversial actions and refused to resign, despite increasing calls from all sides for his departure.
