1. The third batch of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) will leave for the UK on February 7 as previously planned to receive training in the country before heading to Sierra Leone, where it will also undergo adaptation training and provide medical services for four weeks starting on February 23.

◦ Unlike its two predecessors, the third group of the KDRT will be composed of five medical workers -- two doctors and three nurses. This decision was made as “Emergency” had recommended reducing the number of medical personnel to be dispatched amid the recent sharp decline in the number of Ebola cases. “Emergency” is the Italian NGO that operates the Ebola Treatment Center (ETC), where the KDRT is working.

◦ At an interagency meeting, the ROK decided to mainly include in the third group of the KDRT military personnel rather than civilians whose livelihoods can be affected by their dispatch. The group will undergo training at home for three days starting on February 2.

2. The first batch of the KDRT has been in quarantine for three weeks since its return home on January 26. The group members are all in good shape without any particular Ebola symptoms. Meanwhile, the second batch will return home on February 23 after four weeks of medical services from January 26 through February 20.

3. At the proposal of the first and the second batches of the KDRT, the ROK government has provided to “Emergency” five PCs and two electronic stethoscopes, all made in the ROK, in a bid to support services by multinational medical personnel at the ETC.

◦ The equipment is expected to play a role in effective operations of the ETC as well as in promoting the ROK’s advanced ways of treating patients and the excellence of Korean medical equipment.

4. The support team, comprised of officials of relevant government agencies tasked with assisting the KDRT medical workers with their work, is still working in Sierra Leone. An interagency support team will leave for the country on February 11 to extend assistance to the third batch of the KDRT.

5. The KDRT’s services in Sierra Leone will end on March 21. On April 12, when the third group’s quarantine as well as the monitoring on them will have been completed, the KDRT operations will come to a formal end.

◦ The government is planning to hold various events after the completion of the KDRT operations to extend appreciation to the KDRT’s medical and support personnel for their services and to promote their work. 


                            Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
                            Ministry of National Defense 
                            Ministry of Health and Welfare

* unofficial translation