(LEAD) Foreign defense attaches visit military installations in S. Korea

Defense 14:50 September 23, 2019

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, paras 1-3 as tour starts; CHANGES photo)

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- A group of foreign defense attaches visited military facilities in South Korea in a program designed to boost their understanding of the country's security situation, the defense ministry said Monday.

Under the three-day tour program starting Monday, the military officers from 25 foreign diplomatic missions here and their spouses visited the Air Force's 20th Fighter Wing south of Seoul in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, and the state-run Agency for Defense Development headquarters.

They were also scheduled to visit the Army's armor school and Navy's Third Fleet headquarters in the southern part of the country, as well as the factory of Kia Motors Corp., a major carmaker, that also manufactures military vehicles, according to the defense ministry.

The trip, which has usually been organized twice a year by the ministry, is "meant to help enhance their understanding of the current security circumstances of the peninsula, including the military's efforts to support the ongoing peace efforts" involving North Korea, the ministry added.