Seoul, Nov 23 (TIWN) South Korea plans to offer helicopters to support UN peacekeeping operations (PKO) in a "substantive" contribution pledge it will make during next month's ministerial PKO meeting in Seoul, Defence Minister Suh Wook said on Monday.

The meeting is expected to bring together some 700 people from more than 150 nations, including Foreign and Defence Ministers, and relevant UN officials and experts.  "South Korea will announce a substantive contribution pledge to provide helicopter assets, which are priority requirements (for UN operations), so as to contribute to the dramatic improvement of the conditions for the UN PKO Mission," Suh said during the session.  South Korea is currently considering providing about 10 choppers that are to be decommissioned after decades of service, an informed source told Yonhap News Agency.  South Korea joined the UN in 1991, and deployed its first peacekeeping unit to Somalia in 1993.  At present, a total of 569 troops are working as part of PKO missions in five nations, including South Sudan and Lebanon.