Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Permanent Mission to the International Maritime Organization

I have been serving my country here in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the land of boiling heat, for six months. I am filled with emotion as turned back to see how I served last several months in this occasion of marking the first anniversary of the unit’s dispatch of the UAE.

At the request of the UAE, the Akh Unit is providing support in training the UAE special forces and conducting joint exercises with them. In particular, UAE presidential special guard command, the unit’s close training partner, is enhancing national prestige by not only deepening defense exchanges and cooperations with Korea, the United States, France and England, but also carrying out successful joint drills.

Other countries, including the UAE, have pointed out some excellences of the unit. Three major superiorities are as follows.

First, the unit is equipped with strong physical fitness based on robust mental strength. The UAE has a climate of high temperature and humidity. At the highest, the temperature reaches up to 55 degrees Celsius (131 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer. Despite an unexpected and poor environmental circumstances the unit has never experienced before, members of the unit never get tired and kept on fulfilling their assigned duties. Such attitude has given good impression to forces of other countries.

Second, Korean forces are well trained. A few weeks ago, the U.S.’s SEAL team and the unit’s high-altitude team jointly carried out a skydiving drill. At the time, commander of the UAE’s presidential guard command observed the drill and highly praised the unit’s performance. Not only the high-altitude team enjoyed acknowledgment, but also counter-terrorist team, Explosive Ordnance Disposal team and sniper team received high recognition from other countries for their extraordinary service.

Lastly, Korean forces manages an outstanding teamwork. Ranking system is very severe in the UAE forces. A discriminative barrier between commissioned and non-commissioned officers is so high that it is beyond our imagination. Non-commissioned officers are not allowed to bring their cars into headquarters of the UAE presidential guard command where I reside. Local enlisted soldiers are called by their position titles rather than their names. They have no name tags. But the UAE forces are surprised and envied to see Korean forces conduct mission together regardless of ranks.

We often come across the U.S. and French special forces in the UAE presidential gurad command. I have met some U.S. commandos under SEAL “Team Six” that involved in an operation killing Osama bin Laden in May last year in the command. Those U.S. and French forces came to the UAE also at the request of the Gulf country to benchmark advanced military operation system. I am so proud that Korean unit is one of groups to join with the world’s advanced military unit. I was able to realize that Korean forces is becoming a competitive and recognized force in the world.

By Major Park Jin-wu, the Akh Unit of the Republic of Korea