International Assistance and Protection Course Held in the Republic of Korea

The Government of the Republic of Korea and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons jointly organised the international assistance-and-protection course that was held from 18 to 22 June 2007 in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. Twenty-one participants from the following eleven States Parties attended the course: Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

The aim of this basic course was to provide information to the representatives of the Member States from Asia region on planning and building a support team in civil protection system, civil defence, and decontamination operations in contaminated areas, as well as in appropriate responses and countermeasures in the event of incidents involving chemical-warfare agents.

The workshop was opened by H.E. Brigadier General, Kwonheon Lee, Commander, Republic of Korea, Chemical, Biological, and Radiological (CBR) Defence Command. In his opening remarks he welcomed the participants for attending the course and extended his sincere thanks to the representatives of the States Parties and the OPCW for invaluable contribution and cooperation in the field of assistance and protection.

OPCW Deputy Director-General, Mr John Freeman, in his address to the workshop noted that assistance and protection is one of the main pillars of the Chemical Weapons Convention. He drew attention to the status of implementation of the OPCW’s assistance and protection programme in a number of protection capacity-building projects for the Asian region.

Deputy Director-General Freeman emphasised that assistance and protection is an indispensable part of the Convention and all States Parties have an abiding duty to protect the vulnerable for as long as chemical weapons exist, to respond effectively because some States remain outside the Convention and must be diligent in monitoring implementation and compliance due to the risk of non-state actors’ access to these materials.

Deputy Director-General Freeman stressed that active participation of OPCW Member States and their contributions are prerequisite for a successful and credible implementation of Article X of the Convention.

During his visit, Deputy Director- General Freeman visited the CBR Defence Command centre in Seoul and witnessed a demonstration on emergency measures in response to a terrorist attack involving chemical-warfare agents.

PR70 / 2007

Categories: Asia, Assistance and Protection