By NNN-Bernama,
Seoul : About 10 troops of the South Korean Navy’s special forces will be dispatched to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following their successful rescue operation against Somali pirates, Yonhap News Agency reported the defence ministry a saying Monday.
An official at the ministry said the UAE in February asked for members of the Navy’s elite Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) to help train UAE forces.
“We will send about 10 UDT troops to the UAE in the middle of next month,” the official said.
The official said the UAE was particularly impressed with the Navy’s operation in January to rescue crewmembers of a freighter hijacked by Somali pirates.
Eight pirates were killed and five were captured in the operation code-named “Dawn of Gulf of Aden.” The South Korean captain of the hijacked ship was seriously wounded, but none of the other crew were injured.
South Korea currently operates a 130-strong special forces unit, named “Ahk,” which means “brother” in Arabic. They arrived in the UAE in January for a two-year mission to help train local troops in anti-terrorism and parachute infiltration as well as to conduct joint drills.
The additional dispatch to the UAE does not require approval at the National Assembly. Parliament already endorsed a dispatch of up to 150 troops to the UAE late last year.
Proponents of the dispatch have said the presence of South Korean troops in the UAE would boost military and other ties between the countries. But critics have claimed the deployment was linked to a deal South Korea won from the UAE tobuild four nuclear reactors there for US$20 billion by 2020.