via CAAI
Tuesday, 19 October 2010 21:58 Cheang Sokha
Cambodia has received a donation of boats and military equipment from South Korea.
Although precise details about the shipment were unavailable, the defence trade website Defence Professionals reported on Monday that South Korea had donated three utility boats, 100 manoeuvering vehicles, 24 “engineering tools” and 36 “medical tools”.
Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said the donation was emblematic of the growing ties between South Korea and Cambodia.
“Korea had never supplied any military equipment to Cambodia previously,” Chhum Socheat said.
“This military cooperation is the same as for other countries in the region.”
Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Pol Saroeun was in South Korea for a regional security summit, Chhum Socheat added.
“Relations between Korea and Cambodia have been deepened in the current administration, and military ties are also improving,” an official at South Korea’s Ministry of Defence told Defence Professionals. “Utility boats are going to be operated aimed at inspecting drug and human trafficking through waterways.”
The draft budget law for 2011, approved last week by the Council of Ministers, calls for US$298 million in defence spending, a 7 percent increase over last year. Defence spending in the 2010 budget represented a 24 percent increase over the previous year.
In June, China provided the Kingdom with a donation of more than 250 military trucks. This replaced a donation of similar size that was cancelled by the United States in retaliation for Cambodia’s deportation to China of 20 Uighur asylum seekers last year.
In September, military officials announced the purchase of 100 tanks and armoured personnel carriers from Ukraine.
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