South Korea to send 240 troops to Haiti

The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the South Korean troops, mostly engineers, will provide humanitarian assistance to and rebuild areas in Leogane, just west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Haiti's catastrophic earthquake last month killed an estimated 200,000 people and left as many as 3 million in need of food, shelter and medicine.

The parliamentary approval came some 20 days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution to increase the U.N.'s Haitian mission by 2,000 troops and 1,500 police officers.

The ministry said the South Korean troops will be deployed later this month.

Associated Press