Iraq Civil War
Korean builders’ development and plant construction projects in Iraq are on schedule, even with the hostilities between government forces and ISIS escalating in the northern region of the country.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, approximately 1,300 Koreans working for 80 or so companies such as Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), Korea National Oil Corporation, Hanwha Engineering & Construction, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, and Samsung Engineering, are residing in Iraq now. About 1,200 of them are construction firm employees and 20 prime contractors. No damage to the Korean people and companies has been reported yet since the outbreak of the battle.
At present, the rebel army is in control of Mosul, around 400 km northwest of Baghdad. It is a region remote from most of the Korean corporations. Twenty-four employees of four companies that have construction sites near the danger areas, including KOGAS, already escaped to safe zones or returned to Korea.
“Korean construction companies went through wars in the Middle East in the past, and they now have manuals for what to do in emergency cases,” said an industry source, adding, “Fortunately, most of the firms are far away from the engagement areas, and project time extension is also allowable because the civil war is a force majeure accident.”