He informed that as of March 30, around 5,600 Mongolian nationals stranded around the globe due to travel restrictions, including more than 1,000 people in the USA, have submitted their requests to return home to the Mongolian Embassies. “Preparations are underway for the charter flights to be operated by the MIAT Mongolian Airlines to Seoul on April 2, Thursday and to Tokyo on April 3, Friday.”

He also noted that the people, who will arrive on those flights, are those who could not board the first flights from Seoul and Tokyo because of a limited number of seats and were placed on a waiting list for possible future flights.

Between March 15 and 18, the government chartered four flights to Seoul, Japan, Berlin and Istanbul, bringing almost 1,000 Mongolians, and 11 of whom were later tested positive for the COVID-19.

After denying the rumor that a charter flight might be arranged to the USA, once there is a sufficient number of people willing to arrive in Mongolia from there, Mr. Munkhtushig said that every possibility to bring them to Mongolia is under review though, and all diplomatic missions of Mongolia around the globe will continue to work with heightened efforts until the last Mongolian person trapped overseas due to coronavirus-related lockdowns returns home.

At the press briefing, it was also reported that 189 Korean nationals and 111 Mongolians, including Mongolians studying Korean universities and institutions, left for South Korea on March 29, Sunday on an evacuation flight by the South Korean government.