JCS Chairman Visits Lebanon, Turkey
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Gen. Kim Kwan-jin, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), visited South Korea's Dongmyeong Unit stationed in Lebanon on a peacekeeping mission with international forces on Friday, the JCS said Sunday.
``I praise your efforts to stabilize the troop presence here at an early date and conduct successful patrol and civil support operations here,'' Kim said after briefed on the record of the unit's initial operations by Col. Kim Woong-geon, commander of the 350-strong Korean contingent.
The troops, comprised of 270 Special Forces and 80 support personnel, were deployed to Tyre, 83 kilometers south of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Kim also met with Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano, commander of the Italian troops with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), to discuss ways of bolstering coalition in the Middle East nation, JCS officials said.
On his way back to Seoul, Kim visited Turkey Sunday to meet with his Turkish counterparts for talks over bilateral ties and cooperation on the defense industry, they said. Kim received the highest order of merit from the Turkish government, they added.
About 13,000 troops from 30 countries are participating in the UNIFIL operations aimed at overseeing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and ensuring the stability of the central Lebanese government's authority in the area.