South Korean relief team decorates their tent with solidarity messages for Türkiye

By Mehmet Sah Yilmaz and Ferdi Turkten

HATAY, Türkiye (AA) – A search and rescue team from South Korea decorated their tent with solidarity messages for Türkiye as they are working hard to save lives following last week’s massive earthquakes.

The 121-member team wrote messages of solidary in Turkish, English and Korean in their tents in the Antakya District of Hatay province, heavily affected due to the earthquakes. The messages included “Be strong Türkiye,” “We pray for Türkiye’s rapid recovery,” “Brother country Türkiye,” “We are with you forever,” “To Turkish people who lost family members; I am sorry I could not save one more person,” “We share the pain of the earthquake that took place in our sister country Türkiye and express our condolences.”

Led by Won Do Yeon, Director-General for Development Cooperation at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, the 121-member team’s operation in Türkiye was also recorded as the country’s largest search and rescue work abroad to date.

The South Korean squad landed at Gaziantep Airport on Feb. 8 and started the search and rescue operation a day after in Hatay and rescued Ali Wuslu, Mahmut Tutuncu, Ruz Tutuncu, Rawa Tutuncu and Abdusselam Alsavas from the rubble.

On Feb. 11, they also saved Umit Gulcicek and Bekir Dogu, as well as their mother Emine, from the debris.

On Feb. 15, they continued their rescue works and wrote their solidarity messages with Türkiye on their tents.

The South Korean search and rescue team rescued eight people from the rubble in Hatay and found the bodies of 19 people so far.

The team is expected to return to their home country on Friday.

Four specially trained search and rescue dogs are also accompanying the team.

Dogs named 6-year-old Tobaek, 4-year-old Haetae and 6-year-old Tori were injured in their feet due to glass and metal fragments in the environment. The dogs continued to participate in the work with bandages after their treatments.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Twitter on Feb. 6: “My heart goes out to the people of Turkiye and Syria during this difficult time. Korea sends our deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. We stand ready to assist Turkiye, a brotherhood forged in blood during the Korean War, in any way possible.”

On Feb. 14, South Korea’s National Assembly adopted a resolution to support Türkiye after devastating earthquakes.

Turkish forces served under UN command during the Korean War between 1950 and 1953 – over 700 Turkish soldiers were killed in the conflict.