UNIFIL’s Republic of Korea Battalion (ROKBATT) recently organized taekwondo classes, running for three months, for their fellow peacekeepers at the Sector West Headquarters in Shama.

A total of 72 peacekeepers from eight of UNIFIL’s 41 troop contributing countries participated in the classes, which were conducted for four days each week from 3 January to 3 April 2018. Each class was 90 minutes long.

At the graduation ceremony held on 3 April, UNIFIL’s Sector West Commander Brigadier General Rudolph Sganga was awarded with an honorary fifth degree black belt.

Speaking at the ceremony, ROKBATT Commander Colonel Jin Chul Ho said their troops in Lebanon have been running taekwondo classes to the Lebanese nationals as well as the fellow peacekeepers, totalling 958 beneficiaries, since their deployment to UNIFIL in 2007. 

“We will do our best to expand taekwondo classes in order to provide high quality taekwondo training opportunities and fulfil our secondary roles as military attaché,” said Col. Jin.

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art popular in the peninsula.