By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
South Korea is seeking ways to enable the quick deployment of its peacekeeping troops to troubled regions worldwide by institutionalizing a prior parliamentary endorsement system, officials of the foreign and defense ministries said Sunday.
The plan is part of efforts to facilitate and increase the country's participation in global peacekeeping operations (PKO) to upgrade its economic status in the international community, they said. It was recently reported to President-elect Lee Myung-bak's power transition team.
To that end, the incoming administration plans to revise laws pertaining to the deployment of PKO forces, the officials said.
Under the current law, the government is required to obtain parliamentary approval whenever it wants to send PKO troops to foreign nations.
However, a revised law will allow the government to get parliamentary approval for its deployment of PKO forces for the coming year in advance, so that the troops will be dispatched to other nations in need swiftly, they said.
``The current law has prevented the government from dispatching PKO forces timely because of the mandatory case-by-case parliamentary approval,'' an official of the Ministry of National Defense said. ``It is necessary for the government to obtain comprehensive approval from the Assembly on PKO dispatches and the troops' missions in advance, in order to effectively respond to international requests.''
Currently, a total of 37 countries are participating in PKO activities and only 14 of them are enforcing the case-by-case parliamentary approval, he added.
Seoul is the 10th largest donor to the U.N. in the world. Its troop contribution for U.N. PKO missions remains 36th.
About 400 South Korean troops are taking part in U.N. peacekeeping operations in eight countries, including the 350-strong Dongmyeong unit stationed in Lebanon.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, recently requested the transition team to expand Seoul's PKO missions with the support of transport aircraft and other equipment necessary for PKO operations, according to government officials.
Ban reportedly asked for Seoul's PKO dispatch to Sudan's border region of Darfur, where a genocidal conflict has killed about 200,000 people and driven millions from their homes.
Three bills, submitted by Reps. Kim Moo-sung and Song Young-sun of the Grand National Party and Rep. Kim Myung-ja of the United New Democratic Party, on easing rules on the dispatch of PKO troops are now pending in the Assembly.
For example, Kim's bill calls for a preliminary parliamentary approval for a 350-strong PKO deployment. It is also aimed at allowing extending the deployment of less than 100 troops up to three years and organizing a stand-by PKO force.
Last week, the Defense Ministry reported the transition team a plan to create a 1,000-strong stand-by force to support U.N. PKO missions. Plans to support heavy equipment, transport helicopters and ships for PKO missions are also under consideration, it said.