S. Korea to give retired patrol boat, bulldozers to Ghana

SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will donate a retired patrol boat and five bulldozers next month to Ghana as part of efforts to improve bilateral military ties, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday.

Dozens of Ghanaian troops have been trained here to operate the patrol boat and the bulldozers for 10 weeks, the ministry said in a statement.

"We decided to provide the defense articles to Ghana free of charge because the handover is mainly aimed at boosting military ties between the two nations," an official said, asking to remain anonymous because of ministry policy.

The 150-ton patrol boat was decommissioned in 2008 after operating in South Korean waters for about 28 years. Ghana is expected to use the boat to guard its waters, according to the statement.

Since 2000, South Korea has provided its aging defense articles to foreign nations such as Bangladesh, Mongolia, the Philippines and Kazakhstan.