South Korea Hosts U.N. Peacekeeping Training Program

SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea hosted a military engineering and medical training program for troops from countries participating in U.N. peacekeeping missions as part of efforts to contribute to the international peace operations, the defense ministry said Friday. The six-week training program took place at the Army's 1115th Engineer Corps in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, from May 4 to June 12, the ministry said in a release. Ninety instructors and trainees from more than 15 countries, including South Korea, Australia and Japan, took part in the program. The training is part of the U.N. Triangular Partnership Program, a cooperative framework among the United Nations, member states and troop-contributing countries aimed at enhancing peacekeeping capacity through training in engineering, medical care and other fields. This year's training has been expanded, compared with that of last year, as training related to explosives and medical care has been added to the program, the ministry said.