S. Korea Willing to Assist Vietnam in Land Mine Clearance: Ambassador

South Korea wants to boost bilateral military cooperation with Vietnam, willing to assist Vietnam in clearing land mines left from wars, affirmed Ambassador Jun Dae Joo to the communist nation. Ambassador Jun made this statement at the reception in Hanoi on Oct. 12 given by Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, the Quan Doi Nhan Dan newspaper reported. In turn, Gen. Vinh highly valuated bilateral defense cooperation in recent years, which has contributed to the two countries’ strategic partnership. Recently, Vietnam and South Korea discussed partnership in missing in action (MIA) issues to heal the pain left from the Vietnam War, marking the first cooperation on this matter since the end of the war. They exchanged information on Vietnamese and South Korean soldiers missing in the war. In the Vietnam War which ended in 1975, about 50,000 South Korean soldiers joined the battles. More than 5,000 South Korean soldiers died and 11,200 other got injured during the war. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan – People’s Army Oct 13)