SEOUL - South Korea has decided to send two military aircraft to join the international search and rescue operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, South Korea's foreign ministry said on Friday.

The country plans to send a P-3C Orion patrol aircraft and a C- 130 military transport airplane to carry out search and rescue tasks, Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the ministry.

It has also ordered 39 South Koreans from the military to depart for Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to join the international search and rescue efforts, Xinhua said.

A foreign ministry official told the news agency that after considering the South Korea-Malaysia friendship and humanitarian issues, Seoul decided to participate in the search operations for the missing plane,

It has already notified Malaysia of its decision earlier on Friday. said the report, adding that the specific area of search will be decided later.

The mystery of missing flight MH370 has continued to deepen as search operations edge close to a week with no news of the plane or its 239 passengers and crew on board.