South Korea sends presidential plane to evacuate citizens from cruise ship

A South Korean presidential plane arrives after an about two-hour flight from Seoul, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Feb 18, 2020 - EPA-EFE

SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): The VCN-235 Air Force plane left Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at noon on Tuesday (Feb 18), and landed in Japan's Haneda Airport, 20 minutes away from the Yokohama port where the cruise ship Diamond Princess is docked.

The plane is scheduled to leave Japan on Wednesday (Feb 19) and arrive at Gimpo Airport at around 8am. It is set to evacuate five people - four South Korean nationals and a Japanese spouse - from the cruise ship. But the final number could change depending on the situation, according to government officials.