Parliament pushes for creation of int'l relief unit

SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will push to establish an international
disaster relief unit prepared and equipped to respond swiftly to earthquakes and
other calamities occurring across the world, a lawmaker said Sunday.
Park Jin, chairman of the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee, told
reporters that he will consider submitting a bill on the creation of a standing
disaster relief unit to parliament during its special one-month session set to
begin on Monday.
"Korea is now in need of a new standing unit of military troops going abroad
armed with shovels, not weapons, in times of disasters in other parts of the
globe," said Park. "The new unit will be swiftly deployed to foreign soil hit by
disasters and calamities."
Park, a lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party, said his planned bill will
call for the international relief unit to consist of about 300 engineers and
medics. The lawmaker added he plans to name the new unit "International 119 Unit"
after the nation's emergency phone number.
A team of 35 South Korean relief workers consisting of fire fighters arrived in
Haiti on Jan. 15, three days after the Caribbean nation was hit by a
7.0-earthquake on Jan. 12.
The South Korean government is also planning to send its own peacekeeping troops
to Haiti, but their actual deployment is expected to take at least one more month
due to further parliamentary and administrative procedures.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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