Twenty-three South Koreans residing in Iran safely evacuated to Turkmenistan on Friday local time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
According to the ministry, the evacuees departed Tehran at 5 a.m. Thursday aboard two buses chartered by the South Korean Embassy in Iran, heading east. After an overnight stay at an intermediate location, they crossed the Turkmenistan border Friday evening and completed entry procedures safely.
The evacuees included not only Korean residents but also approximately 10 embassy staff members and their families. Korean nationals holding other citizenships and some Iranian nationals who are family members of the evacuees also joined the evacuation. Lee Do-hee, head coach of Iran's women's national volleyball team, and Lee Ki-je, a player for Iranian professional football club Mes Rafsanjan, were also on the buses leaving Iran.
With internet services paralyzed in Iran, the embassy in Tehran maintained communication with the evacuees and the ministry headquarters through a separate communication network while conducting the evacuation. The ministry reportedly also coordinated with U.S. and Iranian authorities to secure safe evacuation routes.
In Turkmenistan, embassy officials and a rapid response team dispatched from the ministry headquarters in Seoul greeted the evacuees. The rapid response team is supporting entry procedures with the local embassy and providing necessary consular assistance, including local accommodation and flight information for return to South Korea.
The evacuees are traveling by chartered bus to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan's capital, and are scheduled to depart individually to South Korea or third countries on Saturday. Approximately 60 Korean nationals had been residing in Iran, but following this evacuation, about 40 remain.
The ministry stated it is not currently considering closing the South Korean Embassy in Iran and plans to take full responsibility for evacuating Korean nationals while monitoring whether the situation becomes prolonged.