A total of eight South Korean nationals will head home this week from coronavirus-hit India and Sudan aboard flights that Japan arranged to evacuate its own citizens, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.

The evacuation underscored continued cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo in protecting their overseas citizens and tackling the COVID-19 pandemic despite their prolonged row over trade and wartime history.

On Tuesday, two Koreans will take a flight that the Japanese government arranged to bring back home its citizens working at a plant of Toyota Motor Corp. in Bengaluru in India, the official said.

On Saturday, six Koreans are set to take a plane that Japan International Cooperation Agency arranged to transport its citizens in Sudan.

In recent weeks, the Seoul government has also helped Japanese nationals return home aboard flights that it arranged to bring home its own citizens from Madagascar, Kenya and the Philippines.

Countries have been stepping up cooperation in the evacuation of their citizens who have been stranded overseas due to lockdowns and flight suspensions aimed at preventing the inflow of COVID-19. (Yonhap)