S. Korea to send rotational troops to South Sudan: report

July 7, 2019 (SEOUL) – A new contingent of South Korean troops will be deployed to war-torn South Sudan to carry out United Nations peacekeeping operations later this month, the army said Monday.

A send-off ceremony, Yonhap News Agency reported, took place in Incheon, west of Seoul, for more than 280 rotational troops to serve at the Hanbit unit South Sudan for eight months.

According the army, the troops are the 11th batch of forces to be sent to South Sudan since South Korea began deployment in 2013. Some of the troops will reportedly depart for Juba this Monday, while the rest in the next two weeks.

The South Korean troops will reportedly focus on helping repair the peace road, a 200km expressway linking Bor, Mangala and Pibor to help revive the nation’s economy and better support UN operations.

South Sudan attained its independence from neighbouring Sudan in July 2011 after decades of civil war that killed over 2 million people.

(ST)