By Jung Min-ho
The Korean government will send 11 medical staff to Ebola-stricken Sierra Leone to join the global campaign to help fight the epidemic, the defense ministry said Thursday.
The team will arrive in the African country on Nov. 13 alongside a British team, after finishing preparation for joint operations in the United Kingdom, the ministry noted.
Before the decision, Vice Minister of National Defense Baek Seung-joo and John Astor, a parliamentary undersecretary of state at the British defense ministry, discussed cooperation in a phone call Wednesday.
“Astor expressed his deep gratitude for our government’s decision to send the team,” the Korean defense ministry said. “He also pledged to provide support for our personnel in the event of an emergency.”
The Korean government said about 20 medical staff will eventually be sent to the region to help eradicate Ebola, which has killed nearly 5,000 people across West Africa. In Sierra Leone alone, more than 1,510 have died so far.