South Korea's foreign ministry on Friday launched an emergency response team to support the country's firms and citizens in politically volatile nations of Africa and the Middle East.
The team, headed by Moon Ha-yong, ambassador for overseas Koreans and consular affairs, and comprising other senior ministry officials from relevant departments, will hold its first meeting later Friday to initially assess the political unrest in Egypt and discuss the team's future operations, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
"In light of the situation in Egypt and the growing number of volatile regions globally, it is important to protect our citizens and firms," he said. "We decided to launch this system in order to promptly respond to such situations and protect our citizens' interests as much as possible."
The team will be tasked with drawing up measures to support South Korean firms that face possible project delays or suspensions in the recent wave of pro-democracy movements in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, the Ivory Coast, Algeria and Yemen, the ministry said in a statement. It will be also involved in planning the evacuation of South Koreans from such nations.
"Aside from Egypt, there are always many elements of unrest in other regions, including the Commonwealth of Independent States and southwest Asia. So the aim is to respond quickly every time there is an important event in the world," the official said.
Meetings will be held monthly to monitor developments in these regions, the ministry said, although their frequency will depend on the situation. All departments will also share information with each other daily to better prepare for unexpected events.
The results of the meetings will then be communicated to the public on the ministry's Web site, as well as Twitter and Facebook.
"In serious cases, we plan to work with KOTRA, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and across the government," the official added.
KOTRA, or the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, is a state-run organization charged with promoting exports and investments.