SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will transfer demining techniques to Vietnam, which is home to massive minefields as a legacy of the Vietnam War, according to the Defense Ministry on Friday.
The ministry has invited a group of 15 Vietnamese mid-level officials to the transfer program scheduled from Nov. 16-27 in Seoul, the ministry said in a statement.
The officials will visit South Korea’s military education institutions, such as the Army Engineer School and Consolidate Army Logistics School, and the military’s landmine removal units during the program.
They will also receive training on techniques to remove land mines as well as unexploded bombs, according to the ministry.
The humanitarian program is designed to raise the reputation of the South Korean military, it added.
Up to 20 percent of Vietnam’s territory is strewn with land mines or unexploded bombs from the Vietnam War, causing grave human casualties each year.
In 2010, the Vietnamese government announced a comprehensive plan to remove the threats by 2025.
South Korea is also home to massive minefields near the Demilitarized Zone, which bisects the Korean Peninsula and separates the two Koreas as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
(Yonhap)