By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of National Defense kicked off a campaign Thursday to strengthen ties between South Korean and U.S. troops, a ministry spokesman said.
Under the Friendship Forever program, the ministry plans to provide 600 ``good conduct'' U.S. service members who have been here for less than a year with various educational and cultural programs to help them learn more about Korean culture and history, he said.
The ministry will invite a group of 75 American soldiers eight times each between May and June, and September and October, he added.
The outreach programs include tours of Gyeongbok Palace, Insa-dong, a folk village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, as well as a dinner party and briefings on Korea's culture and security situation, said the spokesman.
To promote the friendship campaign, the ministry has commissioned related logos, emblems, badges and coins, he added
``The Korea-U.S. alliance has played a pivotal role in maintaining peace and security in Northeast Asia as well as on the Korean Peninsula over the past 50 years, and I highly praise and thank the service of American men and women in uniform here,'' Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said.
The U.S. Forces Korea, for its part, has run a community relations program, named Good Neighbor, since 2003.
The program aims to actively engage the local community, government, media, businesses, students and the military through cultural and educational exchange programs to promote mutual understanding of one another's cultures, customs and lifestyles.
Among Good Neighbor programs are USFK-sponsored English immersion camps for Korean students, cultural training for American soldiers, as well as voluntary community services by U.S troops and friendship activities between the Korean and U.S. militaries and students.