Defense committee OKs deployment extension in Somalia, UAE, Afghanistan

Yonhap News Agency
Monday, December 23, 2013

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The parliamentary defense committee on Monday approved a bill to extend South Korea's troop deployment in Somalia, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan to conduct their missions by another year.

If the bill passes through the parliament, troops in Somalia and the UAE will continue to carry out their missions until the end of 2014, while the contingent in Afghanistan will continue their reconstruction work until June next year.

South Korea has dispatched 310 naval commandos in the Gulf of Aden since 2009 as part of global efforts to tackle Somalia's piracy problem.

About 150 soldiers have also been based in the eastern region of the UAE, tasked with training the Middle Eastern nation's special operations forces.

Some 150 Korean aid workers and police officers have been involved in a reconstruction mission in the northern Afghan city of Charikar since mid-2010.

All told, South Korea has dispatched personnel to 17 nations for United Nations peacekeeping missions and regional security cooperation.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly earlier this month approved a motion to send relief troops composed of engineers, medics and support forces to the typhoon-hit Philippines to join their restoration efforts for a one-year mission.

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