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South Korean Troops Help Rebuild
Kurdistan-Iraq
23.11.2006
By Margaret Besheer
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Erbil, Kurdistan Region (Iraq), 22 November ,--
Reconstruction in central and southern Iraq has been
hindered by the ongoing violence. But in northern
Iraq's relatively calm Kurdistan semi-autonomous
region, some 2,000 South Korean troops are on a
mission to help the local population
rebuild their way to a brighter future.
Inside the Vocational Training Center at Camp Zaytun,
teams of Korean and Kurdish instructors are teaching
a class of local men about a car cooling systems.
The auto maintenance program is one of seven offered
at Camp Zaytun, in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil
(Hewlêr).
The eight-week course will help the men become
qualified mechanics, and with the cooperation of the
Kurdistan regional government, guarantees them a job
when they graduate.
Other vocational programs include baking, computers,
and the operation of heavy machinery. Since the
Vocational Training Center opened last February,
more than 1,000 men and women have graduated.
The Koreans say their philosophy is to teach the
local population how to catch a fish, rather than
just giving them one.
Ghany Qadir Ahmad is 30 years old. He recently
completed the heavy machinery course at Camp Zaytun
and was able to raise enough money to buy a small.
used bulldozer.
He says he used to be a farmer, earning about $10 a
day. Now he earns the enormous sum of $220 per day
operating his bulldozer at local construction sites.
Ghany says the two months of training at Camp Zaytun
have really changed his life.
The Vocational Training Center has been so
successful, that the coalition is using it as a
model and plans three new centers in other parts of
Iraq.
Sergeant First Class Yoohyun Jung is from South
Jeolla Province in Korea. He has been in the army
for over 10 years and is on a six-month tour in
Erbil as an instructor at the Camp's bakery school.
He says his experience in Iraq has been very
rewarding and he feels he is doing something good
for the Iraqi people as well as for his own country. |
Another Korean soldier hosts cooking classes at
Vocational Training Center in Kurdistan
Korean soldiers perform traditional folk dances in
Kurdistan
Photo:VOA |
The Koreans are also making an impact with their
hospital. Since it was established two years ago, it
has treated more than 40,000 patients from across
northern Iraq.
The 38-bed facility also offers training for local
doctors and nurses to improve their medical skills,
as well as a mobile clinic that goes to remote areas
that lack medical care.
Major General Jung Sun Hwang is the Commander for
the Korean mission in Iraq. He says Korea is proud
to be a part of the international coalition, and
that his own country's experience with war in the
1950s is influencing its work here.
He says Korea suffered a devastating war and the
only reason it succeeded economically in its
aftermath was because of help from the Allies,
including the United States. He says Korea is
forever indebted to other countries and they are
trying to repay that debt in Iraq.
The South Korean's emphasize that their mission here
is one of peace and reconstruction. Their soldiers
do not patrol the areas near the base or engage in
combat operations. But they do go into the local
community as part of their outreach Operation Green
Angel program.
Earlier this week, many of Camp Zaytun's soldiers
took part in the inaugural ceremony of a girls
school in Erbil that they helped build. To the
crowds delight, troops dressed in traditional Korean
costumes performed folk dances, played music and
gave an impressive martial arts show.
The South Koreans say their respect and
consideration for the local people, their culture
and traditions, has helped them win many hearts, and
they feel their mission to foster peace and security
in the region has been a success because of that.
voanews com
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