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An Afghan woman agrees to an interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Islamabad International Airport after she was taken there from the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

An Afghan man, who appeared to be in his 40s, gave a strained smile after his arrival at Islamabad International Airport in Pakistan, having departed the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday with the help of the South Korean government.

“Thank you. We are resting easy now. Despite the difficult situation with recent changes in the security environment, the South Korean government has evacuated us from Afghanistan,” he said.

Explaining the tense situation in Afghanistan, the man said that the situation there had begun “deteriorating” by August after the US announced its plan to withdraw its troops from the country.

“We made a request through [the Korea International Cooperation Agency] and the South Korean embassy in Kabul asking if they could evacuate us,” he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided the press corps with details from conversations with three Afghans who had arrived in Islamabad that day.

The reason for the man’s decision to leave his homeland was the threat posed by the Taliban.

“The Taliban don’t treat people well if they’ve worked with foreign institutions or governments,” he said.

“I’m just grateful to the South Korean government for evacuating us so efficiently and promptly,” he added.

After making the decision that it needed to evacuate Afghans who had helped with local South Korean projects, along with their family members, the South Korean government began communicating closely with them in August by email and other means.

A woman who said she had worked at the local South Korean embassy for a two-year, four-month period beginning in 2013 said, “It wasn’t an easy decision, but I had to make it to help my family and children.”

“I went to the embassy and asked them to save the lives of me and my family,” she said.

The evacuation plan “began a month ago, with the final decision coming a week ago,” she added. “We updated them on the situation by email each day.”

For those who did not have passports, the South Korean government had them email photographs to prepare travel certificates that they could use for their arrival in South Korea and other purposes.

But even the journey to the Kabul International Airport was fraught with difficulties.

“When we were traveling to the airport in the morning, the Taliban stopped the car and blocked us from accessing the airport,” the man said.

“We got another car and then went the rest of the way on foot,” he added.

The woman said her group had been “traveling along a narrow road and fortunately did not encounter the Taliban.”

After the war in Afghanistan erupted in October 2001, South Korea accepted a US government request to send two military units to support the reconstruction effort there: the Dongui Unit (2002–2007), which provided medical support, and the Dasan Unit (2003–2007), which provided engineering support.

But in July 2007, 23 South Koreans were taken hostage by the Taliban and two were killed in what became known as the “Saemmool Church incident.” The military units were withdrawn toward the end of that year.

Between 2010 and 2015, South Korea sent a regional reconstruction team to operate a local hospital and job training center.

The male evacuee said, “A lot of Afghans were helped by the hospital and job training center the South Korean government set up, and many are surviving today through the skills they learned.”

“I’m very grateful to the South Korean people and the South Korean government,” he said.

At the same time, his expression remained troubled as he noted, “My immediate family members and I got the opportunity to leave Afghanistan, but my mother and other family are still there.”

Another male evacuee who appeared to be in his 30s said, “I worked with South Koreans for two years, and they were very kind and good people.”

“I’d like to express how very grateful I am to all of them and to the South Korean government,” he continued.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]