By Kang Seung-woo
The Cabinet Tuesday endorsed a motion to dispatch Korean troops to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines.
The approval comes after the Southeast Asian country requested the dispatch of engineers and medical units. Some 500 troops will be sent to the Philippines to assist in relief and restoration efforts as soon as the National Assembly approves their overseas deployment.
If approved, the troops will be authorized to stay there for up to a year, but the government can pull them out at any time prior to that.
As part of the plan to dispatch the military, Korea sent a fact-finding team made up of officials from the defense and foreign ministries Monday to the island nation to survey the extent of the damage.
The team plans to stay in the country until Saturday and will visit Manila to hold talks with officials from the Filipino defense ministry and the multi-national forces command already on site to coordinate future relief efforts.
Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines three weeks ago and killed more than 4,000 people. Another 4.4 million people were displaced by the storm.
In order to help assist the country's restoration efforts, Korea decided Friday to provide $20 million (21 billion won) in grant aid to the Philippines.
Seoul initially dispatched 46 members along with two C-130 transport planes to Tacloban last week to assist in medical support and transport operations.
The Philippines is the first Southeast Asian nation to open diplomatic relations with Korea, and it sent over 7,400 soldiers to fight in the Korean War, of which 112 were killed.
The Cabinet Tuesday endorsed a motion to dispatch Korean troops to the typhoon-ravaged Philippines.
The approval comes after the Southeast Asian country requested the dispatch of engineers and medical units. Some 500 troops will be sent to the Philippines to assist in relief and restoration efforts as soon as the National Assembly approves their overseas deployment.
If approved, the troops will be authorized to stay there for up to a year, but the government can pull them out at any time prior to that.
As part of the plan to dispatch the military, Korea sent a fact-finding team made up of officials from the defense and foreign ministries Monday to the island nation to survey the extent of the damage.
The team plans to stay in the country until Saturday and will visit Manila to hold talks with officials from the Filipino defense ministry and the multi-national forces command already on site to coordinate future relief efforts.
Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines three weeks ago and killed more than 4,000 people. Another 4.4 million people were displaced by the storm.
In order to help assist the country's restoration efforts, Korea decided Friday to provide $20 million (21 billion won) in grant aid to the Philippines.
Seoul initially dispatched 46 members along with two C-130 transport planes to Tacloban last week to assist in medical support and transport operations.
The Philippines is the first Southeast Asian nation to open diplomatic relations with Korea, and it sent over 7,400 soldiers to fight in the Korean War, of which 112 were killed.
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