South Korea’s Intelligence Agency Launches Emergency Team Over Middle East Crisis

SEOUL, March 3 (Bernama-Yonhap) -- South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) has launched an around-the-clock emergency response team to monitor developments in the Middle East following United States (US)-Israeli strikes against Iran and to assist with the safe evacuation of nationals from the region, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing officials on Tuesday.

The NIS is cooperating with other intelligence agencies of like-minded countries to conduct the monitoring, officials said, amid escalating tensions after recent attacks by the US and Israel on Iran, which reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader and prompted retaliatory strikes on US bases in the Middle East.

Officials said the NIS is also closely tracking potential supply chain risk factors and providing relevant information to government agencies, while reviewing the latest conditions in the energy, logistics, defence manufacturing, and shipbuilding industries following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

On the day of the attack on Iran last Saturday, the NIS also formed a task force led by its director to hold an emergency situation assessment meeting daily, officials said.

Earlier, Yonhap reported that around 21,000 South Korean nationals are currently staying in the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region following US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.

-- BERNAMA-YONHAP