1. The first batch of the Korea Disaster Response Team (KDRT) (nine private-sector and military doctors and nurses) dispatched to Sierra Leone to fight Ebola returned home on January 26 after successfully completing its medical activities in the country for four weeks.

o The members of the KDRT were all confirmed healthy with no suspected Ebola symptoms, including fever, in the screening process they went through upon arrival in the ROK. They will resume their normal activities after being quarantined and monitored in a separate facility for three weeks (maximum incubation period for Ebola).

2. The ROK has actively joined the fight against the Ebola crisis, which has emerged as one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, including by dispatching the KDRT. The international community is speaking highly of the ROK’s dispatch of the KDRT, which made substantive contributions to countering the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone by drawing upon their excellent capabilities and working earnestly.

3. Meanwhile, the support team dispatched to assist the KDRT in settling smoothly and support their activities (three officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and KOICA) oversaw on-site safety measures, including the swift response to the situation where one Korean medical worker was at risk of being exposed to the Ebola virus. The support team separately returned home after successfully helping the Korean medical workers settle there.

o Unlike the KDRT, the first batch of the support team will return to their normal lives without a period of being quarantined and monitored, because they have not been in direct contact with Ebola patients. However, they will be monitored for possible symptoms of Ebola, such as fever, by district health centers for 21 days.

4. In addition to the dispatch of the medical personnel to join the fight against Ebola, the ROK government also donated 12.6 million US dollars in various ways. The government will continue to take an active part in international efforts to counter the Ebola epidemic. 


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

* unofficial translation