S. Korea completes building hospital, training centers at Afghan base

South Korea has completed building a hospital and two training centers for police and job-seekers inside its base in northern Afghanistan, as part of efforts to help rebuild the war-torn nation, an official said Wednesday.

The nation‘s provincial reconstruction team (PRT), comprised of some 90 aid workers and police officers, have facilitated reconstruction and development projects in the city of Charikar since mid-2010. Some 350 Korean troops are stationed at the Charikar base to guard the PRT workers.

After the Charikar base was completed in January last year, the aid workers started building the facilities. Construction work had been hampered by a series of rocket attacks from unidentified assailants last year, although no casualties or property damage were reported.

“Construction of the three facilities, including the Korea-Afghanistan Goodwill Hospital, which are core projects of our PRT mission, was completed in late January,” the foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

A team of South Korean officials, including First Vice Foreign Minister Park Suk-hwan, left for Charikar this week to attend an opening ceremony for the facilities, the official said.

The new hospital, run by some 30 medical staff, including 19 locals, is expected to treat as many as 100 Afghan people a day, according to the official.

A vocational training center is capable of housing a total of 140 trainees in five courses, including computer classes, beauty treatment and child care.

Another training center for local police will offer three-month courses on subjects including the Korean martial art of taekwondo, police ethics and Afghan law. It will also teach Afghan police specific skills, including taking command of police checkpoints and proper weapons handling, the official said. (Yonhap News)