Thais in South Korea to be evacuated in case of war

BANGKOK, April 1 (TNA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the situation in South Korea, in which some 44,000 Thai stay, has remained normal, but the Thai nationals will be immediately evacuated to safe places in case of any emergency. Jakkrit Srivali, Deputy Director-General of the ministry’s Department of Information, told journalists on Monday that the Thai nationals have had, so far, their normal life in South Korea, where there has had no declaration of any war. Jakkrit announced that his ministry has, however, been on standby, covering keeping a close watch and gathering updated information from the Thai Embassy in Seoul and other reliable sources to timely evacuate the Thai nationals to safe places in case of any emergency, after North Korea declared last Saturday that it had entered a "state of war" with South Korea. According to the deputy director-general, who is also the Thai Foreign Ministry's Deputy Spokesman, the 44,000 Thais in South Korea comprise of contracted workers, students and those who were married with South Koreans, most of whom live in Seoul, South Korea's capital, and its peripheral areas and they have all formed themselves in a network to keep in touch with each other and with the Thai Embassy in Seoul. Tensions have been sparked in the Korean Peninsula since North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un ordered a third nuclear weapon test in February 2013, breaching UN sanctions against Pyongyang, while there have also been a series of joint military drills between the United States and South Korea. (TNA)