Soldiers in South Sudan Who Have Given Up Leave and Vacation

Soldiers of the Hanbit Unit who postponed their discharge and gave up their leave. From the left: Sergeant Jin Min-seok, Yoon Se-hwan, Kim Young-il, Kwon Soon-chan, Shin Tae-hyun, Jung Hyun-yeop, Kim Yoon-beom, Kim Hyo-sik, Shin Bada, Song Jeong-jun. (Photo by Joint Chiefs of Staff)

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] There are soldiers who have become exemplary by voluntarily postponing their discharge or giving up their personal leave in order to complete their missions until the end. The protagonists are the 12th contingent soldiers of the Hanbit Unit of the South Sudan Reconstruction Support Group dispatched to South Sudan, Africa.

The 12th contingent soldiers of the Hanbit Unit were deployed to South Sudan and carried out their missions since June last year and were supposed to return home in December last year. However, due to a shortage of quarantine facilities caused by COVID-19, the rotation of all troop-contributing countries within the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was delayed, and the rotation date with the 13th contingent was postponed to the 27th of this month.

However, three soldiers including Sergeant Song Jeong-jun, who postponed their discharge, and seven soldiers including Sergeant Jeong Hyun-yeop, who gave up their remaining leave, chose to stay with the unit.

Private Yoon Se-hwan, who gave up 54 days of leave, said, "I don't think I will have another chance to come to South Sudan, Africa," and added, "I want to stay here with my unit members until discharge while I have the opportunity."

Private Shin Tae-hyun said, "I miss my homeland and the 21 days of leave are precious, but as a thermal observation device (TOD) operator, I thought it was more meaningful to complete the mission until the end," expressing his intention to stay.

Private Jeong Hyun-yeop, who is a large vehicle driver, changed his position to a cook. This was because the number of cooks was insufficient, causing difficulties in cooking for the unit soldiers. Private Jeong said, "I was worried about the cooks who have to take responsibility for the meals of the unit soldiers every day, and I chose to stay because I wanted to contribute to the unit even a little."