There has been a change of schedule for chartered flights that were set to leave Thursday morning to bring South Korean nationals home from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a new coronavirus.

A Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said on Thursday that South Koreans who were supposed to board the flights have been notified, adding the ministry is consulting with the Chinese government to bring them home as soon as possible. 

Two chartered flights were scheduled to leave for Wuhan to evacuate about 700 South Koreans from the city on Thursday, with the first plane to take off from Incheon at 10 a.m. and the second at noon.

The Foreign Ministry official said that the flights will be delayed but they will certainly depart on Thursday, possibly at night. 

However, the government is reportedly moving to send just one flight on Thursday, instead of two. 

The South Korean consulate general in Wuhan sent an urgent message at about 1 a.m. local time to the South Koreans, notifying them of the change in schedule and asked them to wait until further notice. 

The message informed South Koreans that were supposed to gather at the airport by 10:45 a.m. for flights set for 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday that the plan was canceled.