Senior UN official thanks Korea for donating helicopters for peacekeeping in Kenya

A senior United Nations official expressed gratitude to Korea on Friday for donating eight military helicopters to Kenya to support UN peacekeeping operations.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN undersecretary-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, using the country's official name. “Refurbished with U.S. support, they were handed over to Kenya,” he added, describing the donation as a “concrete example” of how UN member states invest in peace.

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 United States for approximately two years before arriving in Kenya last month, according to 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 Korea, the United States and Kenya.

Yonhap