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ANKARA
South Korea is ready to send rotating peacekeeping troops to South Sudan in May, after a months-long delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
According to Seoul’s initial plan, the new batch of the South Korean army’s Hanbit Unit was supposed to be shipped to South Sudan in March on peacekeeping missions, but the replacement was postponed at Juba’s request due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Korea Herald website reported Tuesday.
On March 27, part of the unit’s members returned to their home without replacement, while dozens of South Korean troops have remained in South Sudan, performing basic surveillance tasks until a new contingent arrives, according to the report.
“We will push to replace the 12th batch of the Hanbit Unit twice: on May 18 and June 1, when South Sudan approved the arrival of South Korean troops late last month as an exception to its ban on entry to foreigners, “says the report. he cited a South Korean Defense Ministry official as an announcer.
“The remaining troops from Lot 11 will return home in June after all new members arrive there and complete the transfer duties,” the official said, according to the report.
In January 2013, Seoul began sending troops to South Sudan to contribute to the operations of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in the newly born war-torn African state. Since July 2019, the army’s Hanbit Unit has been sending approximately 300 troops at a time, according to the Korea Times website.
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