South Korea is likely to send peacekeeping observers to Sudan

SEOUL, Aug 12, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — South Korea is likely to accept a UN request to send a team of peacekeeping military observers to the war-torn African country of Sudan, reported the South Korean news agency (Yonhap).

Nepalese soldiers in the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) arrive in El-Obeid, one of the main operational centres for aid agencies working in the south of Sudan, April 27, 2005. (Reuters).

“The United Nations made an official request in July for the participation of the South Korean troops in its peacekeeping operations in Sudan, and that is now being positively reviewed,” a Defence Ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

The South Korean team, if sent, would be made up of seven to eight military officers, he said.

South Korea has dispatched military observers to several unstable regions. Nine Korean officers are currently in India and Pakistan as part of the UN Military Observer Group there and seven in Georgia, two in Liberia and two in Burundi.

South Korea and Sudan established diplomatic relations in 1977 and both countries later signed agreements aimed at avoiding double taxation and boosting medial cooperation.

In an effort to end Africa’s longest civil war, the Sudanese government signed a peace agreement with its opposing forces, Sudan People’s Liberation Army, in January.