Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Successful accomplishment of ‘Operation Miracle’ to safely airlift Afghan collaborators

ㅇ 378 Afghan collaborators and their families, who had provided assistance to the Korean Embassy, a Korean hospital and a vocational training center in Bagram for several years since the participation of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in rebuilding Afghanistan, landed safely at Incheon Airport at 16:28 P.M. on Thursday, August 26.

ㅇ To safely airlift Afghanistan collaborators to the ROK, the Ministry of National Defense moved quickly, developing a military operation given the code name ‘Operation Miracle.’ After arranging a special mission team consisting of 66 officials from the ministry and the Air Force, the ministry deployed one multipurpose tanker (KC-330) and two military transport aircrafts (C-130J) to Kabul early Monday morning, August 23. To be ready for any contingency in Kabul, the team was accompanied by special troops and Combat Control Team (CCT) members.

ㅇ It is assessed that the timely establishment of operational guidance based on the report on the local situation through real-time communication between the headquarters, including the ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the special mission team deployed to Kabul was an important factor in the success of the operation.