Korea to offer US$135 mln to Afghanistan in coming years

Korea said Saturday that it has pledged to provide US$135 million to Afghanistan in the coming years to help the war-torn country build up the capacity of its security forces.

Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam made the announcement at the Warsaw summit on a NATO-led mission about Afghan security forces, the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said Korea will contribute $45 million to Afghanistan per year from 2018 to 2020. The annual assistance accounts for 0.9 percent of its total annual needs.

The participants of the summit agreed to strengthen Afghan security forces to ensure Afghanistan will not become a hotbed of terrorism.

Last year NATO launched a new non-combat Resolute Support Mission to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces and institutions as the Afghans assumed full responsibility for security following the end of the operation of the International Security Assistance Force in 2014.

In May, NATO foreign ministers agreed to sustain the Resolute Support Mission presence beyond 2016.