S. Korea to increase number of peacekeeping troops to 1,000

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will accelerate its "Global Korea" drive
in the coming year, while stepping up efforts for substantial progress in a push
for the denuclearization of North Korea, the foreign ministry said in a report to
President Lee Myung-bak Thursday.

As part of the campaign to raise its international status, South Korea will seek
to increase the number of peacekeeping troops it dispatches around the globe to
around 1,000 from the current 400, the ministry added.
In the third year of the president's five-year term, the ministry will also
support Lee's efforts to expand his summit diplomacy channel to the Middle East,
Africa, Latin America and the EU.
Lee concentrated efforts on improving Seoul's relations with four regional powers
-- the U.S., China, Japan, and Russia -- in his first year in office and
endeavored to reach out to Southeast Asia along with Australia and New Zealand
last year.
"Diplomacy in 2010 will be focused on transforming South Korea into a mature and
globalized country," Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said, briefing the president
on his ministry's policy for the next year.
He added the government will continue efforts to play a bigger role in the
international community by raising the amount of official development assistance,
the number of peacekeeping troops, and successfully hosting inter-government
events.
The annual summit of the leaders from South Korea, China, and Japan will be held
on the southern resort island of Jeju in May and Seoul will play host to the G-20
economic summit in November.
Emboldened by the recent passage of legislation on facilitating the dispatch of
peacekeeping troops, the government plans to send more soldiers to
conflict-ridden areas, especially in Africa.
South Korea now has a total of 401 soldiers abroad, mostly in Lebanon, to assist
the U.N.'s peacekeeping operations (PKO), ranking 39th in the world by size.
Seoul's goal is to increase the number to about 1,000 but no deadline has been
set. As in many other nations, troop dispatch overseas is a sensitive political
issue here.
"First of all, the government will expand participation into U.N. PKO, pushing
for new dispatches to Africa and other areas," the minister said.
In a separate move, South Korea is poised to send a 350-strong unit to
Afghanistan in July to protect South Korean civilian aid workers.
In a bid to further enhance the national brand value, Yu said, the government
will support a campaign to globalize the country's traditional food and promote
PyongChang's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, and make efforts to host the
2022 FIFA World Cup.
With regard to the North Korean nuclear issue, the minister said the government
will continue to push for President Lee's so-called "Grand Bargain" which aims to
secure the communist neighbor's irreversible denuclearization through the
six-party talks also involving the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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