ID :
59160
Wed, 05/06/2009 - 12:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/59160
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea unveils plans to reconstruct Afghanistan
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will begin building a hospital and a
vocational training center in Afghanistan next month and increase the number of
workers there starting in 2010 as part of a plan to expand aid to the war-ravaged
nation, officials said Wednesday.
Under the plan approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day, South Korea will spend
US$195 million to build the 30-bed hospital and the vocational training facility
at the U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram, about 80km north of Kabul, by the end of
this year, they added.
But the Cabinet put a controversial decision on whether to send troops on the
back burner.
"In addition, the government will send 100 ambulances and 300 police patrol
motorcycles, worth a total of about $5 million," a foreign ministry official told
reporters. "The materials will arrive in Afghanistan in late July."
South Korea also plans to increase the number of its aid workers in Afghanistan
to around 85 starting next year, the official added.
Seoul has maintained two dozen medical staff at the Bagram base to help the U.S.
Provincial Reconstruction Team there. They were deployed to help make up for the
2007 withdrawal of South Korea's 200-strong team of military medics and
engineers.
"The government will dispatch 30 more medical staff and send around 10
job-training experts next year," the official said. "A dozen taekwondo (South
Korean martial art) instructors for Afghan police will be dispatched as well,
along with about 10 supporting workers. The exact number of the workers to be
dispatched may be changed in follow-up discussions."
He said that Seoul will consider additional aid, taking into account similar
moves by other countries, the situation in Afghanistan, and South Korea's
financial capability.
"The issue of sending troops was not discussed at the Cabinet meeting," he said.
The announcement of the aid package came as U.S. President Barack Obama was to
host a summit with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts in Washington later in
the day.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will begin building a hospital and a
vocational training center in Afghanistan next month and increase the number of
workers there starting in 2010 as part of a plan to expand aid to the war-ravaged
nation, officials said Wednesday.
Under the plan approved by the Cabinet earlier in the day, South Korea will spend
US$195 million to build the 30-bed hospital and the vocational training facility
at the U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram, about 80km north of Kabul, by the end of
this year, they added.
But the Cabinet put a controversial decision on whether to send troops on the
back burner.
"In addition, the government will send 100 ambulances and 300 police patrol
motorcycles, worth a total of about $5 million," a foreign ministry official told
reporters. "The materials will arrive in Afghanistan in late July."
South Korea also plans to increase the number of its aid workers in Afghanistan
to around 85 starting next year, the official added.
Seoul has maintained two dozen medical staff at the Bagram base to help the U.S.
Provincial Reconstruction Team there. They were deployed to help make up for the
2007 withdrawal of South Korea's 200-strong team of military medics and
engineers.
"The government will dispatch 30 more medical staff and send around 10
job-training experts next year," the official said. "A dozen taekwondo (South
Korean martial art) instructors for Afghan police will be dispatched as well,
along with about 10 supporting workers. The exact number of the workers to be
dispatched may be changed in follow-up discussions."
He said that Seoul will consider additional aid, taking into account similar
moves by other countries, the situation in Afghanistan, and South Korea's
financial capability.
"The issue of sending troops was not discussed at the Cabinet meeting," he said.
The announcement of the aid package came as U.S. President Barack Obama was to
host a summit with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts in Washington later in
the day.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
