A senior United Nations official expressed gratitude to South Korea Friday for donating eight military helicopters to Kenya to support UN peacekeeping operations.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, made the remarks in a post on X following a ceremony marking the handover of eight refurbished MD 500 Defender helicopters to Kenya.
"Grateful to the Republic of Korea for donating eight helicopters to enhance UN Peacekeeping's air mobility," Lacroix wrote. "Refurbished with US support, they were handed over to Kenya," he added, describing the donation as a "concrete example" of how UN member states invest in peace.
South Korea pledged to provide choppers to UN peacekeeping operations across Africa during the UN peacekeeping ministerial meeting held in Seoul in 2021. The United States vowed to conduct maintenance work on the helicopters and help transport them to the East African country.
The decommissioned helicopters underwent repairs and refurbishment in the US for approximately two years before arriving in Kenya last month, according to South Korea's defense ministry. They are waiting for deployment after successfully completing all flight tests, according to officials.
The ceremony held in Nairobi on Friday was attended by some 200 participants, including defense officials from South Korea, the US and Kenya. (Yonhap)
