S. Korea plans to dispatch relief troops to Philippines

(LEAD) S. Korea plans to dispatch relief troops to Philippines

2013/11/21 17:19

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is preparing to send some 500 troops composed of doctors and engineers to the Philippines to help with relief efforts in Tacloban following Typhoon Haiyan, the defense ministry here said Thursday.

The Philippines has asked Seoul to send troops to typhoon-hit Tacloban, where desperate survivors have been struggling to get food, water or medicine for nearly two weeks following the disaster.

Seoul initially dispatched 46 members along with two C-130 transport planes to Tacloban last week to assist in medical support and transport operation.

A South Korean military transport airplane is evacuating residents in the typhoon-hit Tacloban in the central Philippines as part of relief operations. (Yonhap)

As the decision needs parliamentary approval, the government plans to send a motion to parliament next week. If approved, troops will be deployed as early as mid-December for disaster relief operations, military officials said. 

"We will quickly send a joint government team to the Philippines to inspect situations there," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. "After inspection, the government will establish the dispatch plan and seek approval from the Cabinet and parliament."

   If approved, the South Korean troops will depart for the Philippines with two tank-landing ships (LSTs), which would take about one week to arrive at the destination. One LST can carry up to 240 crew members. 

The contingent will include doctors, engineers and other supporting forces to carry out relief missions and humanitarian support.

It will be the 17th overseas troop dispatch for South Korea since becoming a member of the United Nations in 1991, marking the second largest military deployment for the Asian country following Iraq. 

There are about 1,100 South Korean personnel in five nations for U.N. missions, including Lebanon, Somalia, Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and South Sudan. 

"The government promptly made the decision to provide support, as the Philippines -- which fought for the Korean War -- is in a desperate situation after the largest-ever typhoon," a senior military official said.

So far, 24 nations have sent warships, aircraft and medical teams to the Philippines to help locals with restoration efforts. 

The Philippines is the first Southeast Asian nation to open diplomatic relations with Seoul, and helped South Korea repel invading troops from North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Philippines is the only Southeast Asian nation that participated in the war with North Korea, dispatching the fourth-largest contingent among 16 allied nations under a U.N. resolution. 

A total of 7,420 Filipino troops fought in the conflict, with 112 of them killed and a further 299 wounded. 

Currently, there are over 50,000 Filipinos living in South Korea, many of them women who married Korean men.