Foreign Ministry issues travel advisory for all of Saudi Arabia as Houthi fighting intensifies, leaving casualties

The Foreign Ministry raised its travel alert for all of Saudi Arabia to Level 3, or a travel advisory, effective 10 p.m. on the 11th. A travel advisory is the third-level travel alert through which the ministry warns Korean nationals staying in a country that danger is high and that they should leave unless they have urgent business. The move came as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels intensified, with even civilian facilities such as airports coming under attack and casualties reported.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun held a situation-assessment meeting with 15 diplomatic missions in the Middle East to evaluate the regional situation and review safety measures for Korean nationals staying in the area. The meeting was attended by officials from the embassies in 12 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, as well as nearby consulates general.

At the meeting, Minister Cho assessed that instability in the Middle East had deepened as the intensified fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels left civilian facilities such as airports directly struck and caused numerous casualties. He then urged the missions to respond accordingly and stressed that they must prepare for every possible scenario to protect Koreans abroad.

The Foreign Ministry advised that "Korean nationals staying in Saudi Arabia should leave the country unless they have urgent business, and those planning to travel there should cancel or postpone their trips."