Seoul mulls sending peacekeeping forces to Haiti

(ATTN: UPDATES with planned dispatch of second medical team to Haiti in paras 7-8)
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea may dispatch a group of peacekeeping
forces to Haiti following the United Nations' call this week for increased
support for the Caribbean nation devastated by a recent earthquake, a government
official said Tuesday.
"The government is reviewing a possible dispatch of troops as a way of joining
the international efforts to help rebuild Haiti," the official said on condition
of anonymity.
A dispatch of U.N. peacekeeping forces can be done swiftly once the government
makes the decision, as the move does not require approval of the National
Assembly, unlike a dispatch of troops to a war or conflict areas.
The move comes one day after Seoul's foreign ministry said it will provide an
additional US$9 million to Haiti in emergency relief support.
The country has already provided $1 million worth of aid in supplies, medical
services and support for search and rescue efforts in Haiti with the first
shipment of its supplies scheduled to arrive in Haiti on Wednesday.
"The government is reviewing ways to expand the support for Haiti, considering
the seriousness of the damage from the earthquake and also our efforts to
increase our contribution to the international community," the ministry spokesman
told a press briefing Monday.
In a related move, a second South Korean medical support team consisting of 18
doctors and nurses is to depart for Haiti on Wednesday, the health and welfare
ministry said Tuesday.
The new medical team will replace the first team of Korean doctors and nurses
that has stayed in Haiti since last Friday to offer emergency medical services to
injured people in Haiti, said the ministry.
Seoul's review of dispatching peacekeeping forces comes after U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at least some 3,500 additional military or
police forces are needed in Haiti.
The United Nations currently has a 9,000-member peacekeeping mission in Haiti,
while the United States has offered to send some 12,000 troops to help maintain
order in the nation that was hit last Tuesday by an earthquake of 7.0-magnitude
and powerful aftershocks.
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed or injured in
last Tuesday's quake.
A female South Korean officer is currently staying in Haiti as part of a U.N.
peacekeeping operation there.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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