South Korean military transport aircraft is bringing home 204 nationals from Saudi Arabia, officials said Sunday, in the first airlift evacuation using a military plane since the conflict began in the Middle East late last month. A KC-330 Cygnus multirole aerial tanker carrying 204 South Koreans and seven others of foreign nationalities departed from Riyadh on Saturday (local time) and is expected to land at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, south of the capital, on Sunday afternoon (Seoul time). The operation, named “Desert Shine,” came as thousands of South Korean nationals remain stranded in the Middle East due to flight disruptions as the conflict between U.S.-Israeli forces and Iran has escalated into a wider regional war. Those aboard the Cygnus tanker had been staying in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia before traveling to Riyadh to board the military aircraft. More than 140 of them were in Saudi Arabia, while 24 had come from Bahrain, 14 from Kuwait and 28 from Lebanon. Among those on board were two Japanese nationals, along with one American, one Australian, one New Zeal
