“When Will the War Be Over So We Can Get Back to Work ?”

It was 5:50 in the morning on March 23, the 4th day of the Iraqi War. A group of passengers came out of Gate 15 of the Arrival area of the still dark Incheon International Airport.

The passengers, who left Cairo, Egypt and arrived at the Incheon Airport through Dubai, Arab Emirates, amounted to 102 Koreans and 71 foreigners including those of Moslem descent. In their faces, there was a sense of inconvenience, when they could go back to work, rather than the feeling of relief that they escaped from true danger.

The KE902 passenger flight was the last flight for Korean Air, which is the only Korean carrier that goes to the Middle East. Korean Air decided to close down the route due to the war for at least a month.

Most of the Koreans arriving that day were employees of trading companies and construction companies working in neighboring countries of Iraq such as Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt.

The 5 construction workers from Hyundai Construction, which withdrew from their construction site in Qatar, where the U.S. headquarters is located, said, “We hope the war is over as soon as possible, so we can get back to work.”

The president of a construction company, which had done engineering and construction work in the United Arab Emirates and Iran, Mr. Kim (59) sent some 10 employees to a safe place first and then had them leave the country.

He said, “I have traveled to the Middle East often, but there has never been this complicated to go through the Dubai Airport,” and “I had to take off my belt as well as shoes and then be searched.”

He remembered his memory of visiting Teheran in Iran on March 16 and said, “Iran, which fought several wars against Iraq, is not lessening tension,” and “employees of the Korean Embassy are preparing plans to evacuate Koreans.

That day, the 20 some Korean Air employees working in the Middle East also evacuated. They worried, “there are probably many Koreans who weren’t able to escape the danger zone.”

A purser on this flight said, “I didn’t feel any war clouds in Dubai except the continuous anti-war demonstrations,” and “because of the news that the Middle East route would be closed temporarily, the booking rate for that area was higher than usual.”

Because of the temporary close for the Middle East route by Korean Air, people should use foreign airlines such as Thai Airlines or the Emirates Airlines to go in and out of the Middle East for a while.

However, the government, as a separate way, plans to send a special charter plane to the Middle East as quickly as possible if there is more demand from local Korean emigrants.

Hee-Jae Park min07@donga.com