The government on Thursday decided to send around 500 army medics and engineers to the Philippines, where more than 5,500 people are estimated to have been killed by super typhoon Haiyan.
The decision came at a national security meeting at Cheong Wa Dae following a request from the Philippines for relief troops on Wednesday.
The government plans to submit the matter to the National Assembly for approval next Wednesday, which means the troops would be able to leave around the middle of December.
The dispatch to the Philippines would be the 17th overseas deployment of Korean soldiers since 1991, when the country became a member of the UN.
It would be the second-largest deployment abroad after the Zaytun Unit was sent to Iraq in 2004.
The last time Korean soldiers were dispatched overseas on a disaster-relief mission was after the earthquake in Haiti, but this will be the first time such a deployment comes without a request from the UN.
englishnews@chosun.com / Nov. 22, 2013 12:31 KST
