S. Korea indefinitely postpones Afghan base opening ceremony

South Korea indefinitely postponed a ceremony set for next week to formally open its newly built base for aid workers in Afghanistan due to security concerns following this week's rocket attack on the facility, an official said Thursday.

 Five rounds of rocket propelled grenades were fired toward the base in the city of Charika in the northern Afghan province of Parwan Tuesday evening (local time). Three of them landed in an open area on the base and the other two outside of the facility, but no one was hurt in the attack.

 The attack came about a week before South Korea was set to hold a formal opening ceremony for the base that was expected to draw about 80 South Korean and Afghan officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Jae-shin, who was expected to attend the country as head of a government delegation.

  On Thursday, officials from related government agencies met to discuss whether to hold the ceremony as planned, and decided to put it off indefinitely considering the security condition there, an official said on condition of anonymity.

   The government will consider holding a ceremony after construction of all other auxiliary facilities is completed later this year, the official said. Currently, core facilities at the base are completed, but cultural and training facilities are still under construction.

   A total of 369 South Koreans were on the base at the time of the attack, including 57 civilian aid workers and 35 police officers, who belong to the country's provincial reconstruction team (PRT), as well as 277 troops tasked with protecting the team.

   South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin had visited the base earlier Tuesday, and the attack came after he left the facility.

That raised speculation that Kim might have been a target, but defense officials said that such a possibility is unlikely.

   The site came under two similar attacks in the past, one in June last year and the other in January, though none were hurt in the attacks, the official said.

   The South Korean PRT began its mission last year to help rebuild the war-torn nation by strengthening the Parwan provincial government's administrative capabilities and offering medical services as well as vocational and police training.

   The aid workers and the military contingent protecting them had been stationed at the U.S. military base in Bagram while the base was under construction. They moved into the new base late last month. (Yonhap News)