(2nd LD) Bodies of 2 S. Koreans found after going missing in Annapurna avalanche in Jan.

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, first 4 paras with updated info)

SEOUL, April 26 (Yonhap) -- The bodies of two South Korean trekkers have been discovered after they went missing in January when an avalanche hit the Annapurna region in Nepal, government officials said Sunday.

The bodies -- one male and the other female -- were found at about 3 p.m. Saturday by those patrolling around the avalanche-hit area and will be airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu, according to the officials.

Their identities have been confirmed with passports found along with the bodies, but details other than their genders remain withheld at the request of their families, they said.

The two are among the four South Koreans -- a woman in her 30s, another in her 50s and two men in their 50s -- who went missing along with three other Nepalese guides when the avalanche hit a trekking route at an altitude of about 3,230 meters on Jan. 17.

They were all teachers who were staying in Nepal for volunteer work. Officials earlier said they appear to have been on a weekend trekking trip when the accident took place.

Rescue and search efforts were suspended about a week after the accident due to harsh weather conditions and subsequent avalanches in the region, but they resumed in early April as the temperature got warmer, with the snow and ice beginning to melt.

South Korea's Embassy in Nepal has asked for local police to immediately recover the bodies found, the officials said. It also plans to dispatch its staff to the hospital to which they will be airlifted so as to provide relevant consular and other support.

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