South Korea will dispatch a 5th round of troops to South Sudan to continue its commitment to helping the newly independent African nation's rebuilding efforts, the Army said Thursday.

The 290-member Korean contingent, named the "Hanbit" unit, will head to the African nation later this month on a United Nations peace-keeping mission for about eight months, according to the military.

The service personnel, mostly engineers and medics, plan to carry out a variety of missions including the construction of infrastructure, providing humanitarian aid, supporting social and economic development by opening vocational schools and a research institute for agriculture, and holding various cultural events, it added.

The unit was created in January 2013 after receiving parliamentary approval in September 2012. So far, four batches of Korean troops have been dispatched to the civil war-hit country, with its base located in the town of Bor, some 170 kilometers north of the capital Juba.

"Every single member has been fully prepared for the mission in South Sudan over the past eight weeks. We will do our best for the reconstruction and the peace of the country," said Colonel Kim Byung-chun, who led the contingent during a send-off ceremony held on Thursday in the western port city of Incheon.

South Sudan declared its independence in July 2011 from its Arab-dominated northern neighbor Sudan after decades of civil war that claimed about 2 million lives. Tensions between the two Sudans still remain over border security and oil production. (Yonhap)