South Korea is seeking to arrange two chartered flights to bring home hundreds of its citizens from Italy, which has been hit hard by the new coronavirus, a senior foreign ministry official said Friday.

Italy's COVID-19 death toll had topped 3,400 as of Thursday afternoon -- a tally higher than that of China where the novel virus first emerged in December.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 570 people have expressed their wish to return to Korea.

"We currently think that two flights are needed, and we are still in consultations over specifics," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Seoul started to look for chartered flights only recently, as its citizens in Italy had initially sought to find flight tickets on their own -- an effort that has become difficult due to other European countries' moves to tighten border controls and travel restrictions. (Yonhap)