U.N. official thanks S. Korea for helicopter donation to Kenya for peacekeeping operations

By Chang Dong-woo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- A senior United Nations official expressed gratitude to South Korea on Friday for donating eight military helicopters to Kenya to support U.N. peacekeeping operations.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, U.N. under-secretary-general for peace operations, made the remarks in a post on X following a ceremony marking the handover of eight refurbished MD 500 Defender helicopters to Kenya.

"Grateful to the Republic of Korea for donating eight helicopters to enhance U.N. Peacekeeping's air mobility," Lacroix wrote. "Refurbished with U.S. support, they were handed over to Kenya," he added, describing the donation as a "concrete example" of how U.N. member states invest in peace.

South Korea pledged to provide choppers to U.N. peacekeeping operations across Africa during the U.N. peacekeeping ministerial meeting held in Seoul in 2021. The United States vowed to conduct maintenance work on the helicopters and help transport them to the East African country.

The decommissioned helicopters underwent repairs and refurbishment in the U.S. for approximately two years before arriving in Kenya last month, according to South Korea's defense ministry. They are waiting for deployment after successfully completing all flight tests, according to officials.

The ceremony held in Nairobi on Friday (local time) was attended by some 200 participants, including defense officials from South Korea, the U.S. and Kenya.