As part of strengthening their bond with the host population, UNIFIL’s Korean peacekeepers hosted 27 representatives from the town of Tayr Dibbah, including its mayor, Hussein Saad, for a friendly football match in their main base near the south Lebanese town last week.

During the 20 July friendly match, the Tayr Dibbah team beat the hosts 4-3.

At the end of the match, the commander of the Korean Contingent, Colonel Jin Chul Ho, expressed his gratitude to the guests for actively supporting UNIFIL and its activities and gave out gifts as a sign of the unit’s gratitude.

Noting that 19 July marked the 11^th anniversary of the deployment of peacekeepers from the Republic of Korea to UNIFIL, Col. Jin said, “We will continue to actively participate in friendly exchange events with local communities and do our best to publicize UNIFIL.”

The current Korean unit is actively engaged in civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) activities to create a friendly environment for UNIFIL to carry out operational activities. Some of the unit’s CIMIC achievements include medical care to 100,000 Lebanese locals and Taekwondo education to 1,000 trainees.

Through a series of friendly exchange activities with the representatives of all five towns in the unit’s area of operation – with Tayr Dibbah being the last town to have been invited – the Korean Contingent enhanced UNIFIL’s bond with the local population. The other towns are Burj Rahhal, Burghulia, Shabriha, Abbassiyeh.

UNIFIL attaches great importance to relations with the host population among whom the peacekeepers operate. To this end, interactions with the communities are regularly conducted at every level.