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Afghans who aided the activities of the South Korean government are being admitted to the country not as refugees but as "persons of special merit" for their assistance rendered to the Korean government. An Afghan family poses for a photo with their special travel certificates before leaving the Kabul airport on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

A total of 378 Afghans who aided the activities of the South Korean government in Afghanistan arrived at Incheon Airport with their family members on Thursday.

"The South Korean government has been organizing an airlift for locals who worked for us in Afghanistan and their spouses, nonadult children, and parents," Choi Jong-moon said in a briefing at the government complex in Seoul on Wednesday.

The Afghans in the airlift are those who worked for years at the South Korean embassy in Afghanistan, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the Korean Hospital in Bagram, the Korean Vocational Training Center in Bagram and a provincial reconstruction team in Charikar, along with the families of those workers.

Many of the Afghans in the airlift are young children, including 118 below the age of six and three infants born this month.

"We decided to accept these Afghans into Korea this month in light of our moral responsibility for the grave predicament of our colleagues, our responsibility as a member of the international community, our international standing as a champion of human rights, and the fact that other countries are also airlifting large numbers of Afghans who are in a similar situation, Choi said.

The government flew four embassy workers who had been evacuated to Qatar back to the Kabul airport on Sunday, where they assembled the Afghan evacuees and ushered them into the airport while preparing for a safe escape.

Furthermore, three military transport aircraft were flown to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday, where they prepared for the airlift. On Tuesday, 26 Afghans were flown to Islamabad, with the remaining 365 making their getaway on Wednesday.

While 427 Afghans had initially wanted to fly to Korea, 36 of them later asked to be taken to another country or decided to remain in Afghanistan for personal reasons. In short, nearly all the Afghans who wanted to are en route to Korea.

The Afghans are being admitted to the country not as refugees but as "persons of special merit" for their assistance rendered to the Korean government. Following their arrival in Korea, they will be temporarily housed at the National Human Resources Development Institute, located in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province.

Blue House spokesperson Park Kyung-mee quoted South Korean President Moon Jae-in as saying that "fulfilling our moral responsibility to the Afghans who've helped us is both something we clearly ought to do."

Moon also instructed the government and military to "make sure that [the Afghans] are comfortable following their arrival in Korea" and to "take every precaution in disease control measures," referring to COVID-19.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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