1. The third International Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping Symposium will take place in Seoul from November 7 to 11, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements and the UN.

2. At the symposium, some 300 participants, including delegates from UN member states, those related to UN peacekeeping operations (PKO) and relevant experts, will seek ways to strengthen the PKO capabilities. To that end, they will discuss ways to step up technical cooperation in various areas, including geographic information system (GIS), surveillance and reconnaissance, and information and communications technology (ICT), and share with one another exemplary cases.

° The Republic of Korea will inform the participants from home and abroad of its ICT for national defense and its policy direction.

3. Since its accession to the UN in 1991, the ROK has dispatched some 14,000 people to a total of 18 PKOs, with the military engineering unit deployed to UN Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) in 1993 marking the first such unit from the country. With its Dongmyeong and Hanbit Units currently deployed to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), respectively, the ROK, as a UN member, is taking an active part in the UN’s international peacekeeping efforts.

° Furthermore, the ROK is contributing an annual 160 billion won (in 2015) to the UN PKO budget, the world’s 12th-largest.


* unofficial translation