Page 255 - 2020 Defence White Paper

Signing of MOUs on Peacekeeping In August 2020, the MND signed
Operations and Promoting Cooperation an MOU on peacekeeping coo-
peration with the UK and Viet-
nam, and is planning to sign MOUs with Indonesia and Cambodia. After signing the
MOU on peacekeeping cooperation with Vietnam, a strategic cooperative partner of
the ROK, in September 2015, the MND dispatched combat engineers to the Vietnam
Peacekeeping Center in December 2015 and in September 2018 to train participants
on base protection and survival skills in specific crisis scenarios which may occur in
the PKO regions. Moreover, since September 2016, a total of seven Vietnamese
officers have been invited to attend the UN Staff Officers Course and Military
Experts Course at the PKO Center of the Korea National Defense University
(KNDU). This initiative contributed to strengthening the Vietnamese Armed Forces’
PKO capabilities as the participating Vietnamese officers received education and
learned know-hows on observation, surveillance, investigation, verification,
negotiation, and mediation.
On the occasion of the UK deploying an engineering unit to South Sudan in March
2017, the ROK and the UK signed an MOU on peacekeeping cooperation in January Chapter 6
2018 to establish an institutional foundation for further cooperation. Currently, the
ROK is continuing its cooperation with the UK on not only sharing information
related to peacekeeping but also offering the UN Staff Officers Course at the ROK’s
PKO Center to three British officers through commissioned education as of 2020.
The ROK plans to pursue MOUs with Cambodia and Indonesia as well. Cambodia
has years of experience in demining and if this experience is coupled with the

ROK’s advanced demining equipment, a synergy can be created and lead to a
new deployment model. Cooperation with Indonesia, on the other hand, will
be strengthened in areas of commissioned education, training, and information
exchanges based on its extensive experience in peacekeeping operations.
Accordingly, the ROK plans to strengthen cooperation with the ASEAN countries
by signing MOUs on peacekeeping cooperation.

Reinforcing Functions of The PKO Center was established as a dedicated
the PKO Center educational institution for PKO preparation at the
Joint Forces Staff College in August 1995. In
2015, the MND adjusted the PKO Center’s affiliation to come under the KNDU
based on the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Establishment of the Korea
National Defense University, in order to reinforce its education and research
functions. This is also when the PKO Center was given its current official name. The

Chapter 6. Developing a Robust ROK–US Alliance that is Mutually Complementary and Promoting Defense Exchanges and Cooperation 253