http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-11-22-voa34.cfm
South Korean Troops Help Rebuild Iraq
By Margaret Besheer
Irbil, Iraq
22 November 2006
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Reconstruction in central and southern Iraq has been hindered by
the ongoing violence. But in northern Iraq's relatively calm
Kurdistan region, some 2,000 South Korean troops are on a mission
to help the local population rebuild their way to a brighter
future.
A Korean soldier teaches local residents automobile maintenance at
Camp Zaytun's Vocational Training Center
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 Irbil. 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 Irbil 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.
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.
Korean soldiers perform traditional folk dances
The South Koreans 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 Irbil 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.