KATHMANDU: South Korean President Moon Jae-in has extended heartfelt tributes to the climbers who died in course of climbing Mount Gurja.

Five Korean nationals and four Nepali mountaineering guides were killed when a massive landslide buried the base camp of Mt Gurja (7,193 metres) on the lap of the south face of Mt Dhaulagiri in western Nepal on October 12.

Moon said the victims displayed a “great spirit that’s about respecting nature while simultaneously trying to overcome it", reads a condolence message issued by the Embassy of South Korea.

“A snow storm has taken the nine climbers into the mountains forever, but their bravery and fighting spirit to break out a new route can never be buried”, it is stated in the message.

Korean mountaineer Kim Chang-ho was leading the Koreanway Gurja Himal Expedition 2018, along with support staff.

Mountaineer Kim Chang-ho is the first Korean to summit the 14 peaks above 8,000m without using supplemental oxygen.

(With inputs from Rastriya Samachar Samiti)