By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
South Korea plans to establish a state-run training center for peacekeeping operations (PKO) by the end of 2009, as part of efforts to increase the country's role in the international community, a government source said Wednesday.
The plan has been included in the Ministry of National Defense's mid-term policy goals between 2008 and 2012, the source told The Korea Times.
The move is in line with President Lee Myung-bak's pledge to raise Korea's international profile by participating in more peacekeeping operations around the world to match the nation's economic status in the global community.
Lee made it clear in his inaugural speech Monday that his government will ``actively participate in United Nations peacekeeping operations.''
The center will take charge of educating and training PKO troops and other personnel including civilians, police officers and government officials, to be dispatched to international peacekeeping operations in a systematic way, the source said.
The center will also be in charge of developing the country's policies and doctrines related to PKO efforts, such as troop size and terms for dispatch, he said.
A bill on the establishment of the PKO center has been pending at the National Assembly since 2006.
``Plans to expand the country's global peacekeeping missions have been stalled due to opposition from the presidential office over the past years,'' Col. Lee Boong-woo of the ministry's public affairs office said.
``But as President Lee emphasizes global diplomacy, I think the plans will receive a big boost,'' he said, anticipating pending bills aimed at increasing PKO efforts will be passed this year without difficulty.
Currently, the Joint Chiefs of Staff runs a training course on peacekeeping missions.
President Lee's transition committee last month hinted at plans to bolster the country's international PKO roles by institutionalizing a prior parliamentary endorsement system.
Seoul is the 10th largest donor to the U.N. but its troop contribution for U.N. peacekeeping 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.
To that end, the government will revise laws pertaining to the deployment of PKO forces, government officials said.
Under the current law, the government is required to obtain parliamentary approval whenever it wants to send PKO forces to foreign nations.
Normally, it takes three to four months to train PKO resources and get approval from the Assembly before dispatching a team to other nations after receiving a request from the U.N. Critics say that is too late to meet U.N. requirements.
A revised law will allow the government to get approval from the Assembly for its deployment of PKO troops for the coming year in advance, so that the troops will be dispatched to other nations in need swiftly, to effectively respond to international requests.
Currently, a total of 37 countries are participating in international PKO activities and only 14 of them are enforcing the case-by-case parliamentary approval system.
Kim Hyung-ki, spokesman for the defense ministry, said the government is considering operating a 3,000-strong stand-by force to support U.N. peacekeeping efforts.
Designating a company-sized Marine unit as a stand-by PKO force is also under consideration, according to a local report.
Currently, 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 Democratic Party, on easing rules on the dispatch of PKO troops are now pending.
For example, Kim's bill calls for a preliminary parliamentary approval for a 350-strong PKO deployment. It is also aimed at allowing the extension of the deployment of less than 100 troops for up to three years and organizing a stand-by PKO force.