YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) S. Korean rescue team to depart for quake-hit China

   SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- A team of South Korean rescue workers will leave later Friday for the western Chinese province that was devastated by a powerful earthquake, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said.

   The team is composed of 41 rescue workers from the National Emergency Management Agency and four officials of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, it added.

   The dispatch comes after the Chinese government accepted Seoul's offer of help in efforts to rescue those who remain under the rubble.

   China's state media reported that more than 50,000 people had likely died from the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan Province on Monday. Many others are believed to be stuck in collapsed buildings and other affected sites.

   "The government will push for the dispatch of medical manpower, if China wants it," the ministry said in a press release.

   South Korea also plans to send emergency aid materials including tents and blankets to Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, on Sunday by a special cargo plane.

   Earlier, the government had announced a plan to provide China with emergency funds and aid materials worth US$1 million, adding it was waiting for China's response to its offer of sending rescue workers.

   "Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Ning Fukui paid a courtesy call on Vice Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan today to express Beijing's gratitude for our government's support," ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
Moon said, meanwhile, the five South Korean students, earlier reported to have gone missing shortly after the earthquake, were rescued unharmed.

   The five studying at the Tianjin Foreign Language Studies University had been travelling the affected area and they had gone out of contact, according to South Korean consular officials.

   "All of them were located and rescued." Moon said. "They are being transported to a safe area by a Chinese helicopter."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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