A second batch of South Korean water engineers will leave for Libya later this month to help the war-torn nation restore its water supply services, a Seoul official said Friday.
Water is still in short supply and security conditions in Libya have not fully stabilized although the country's nine-month civil war ended last month with the capture and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, who had ruled Libya for more than four decades, the official said.
South Korea, which had built large networks of underground water pipelines in Libya in the 1970s, sent a team of water experts to the Libyan capital of Tripoli in September.
"The government will dispatch another team of water engineers to Libya by the end of this month as part of our humanitarian assistance," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
With Gadhafi gone, the business appetite of foreign companies, including South Korean builders and trading firms, to develop the oil-rich nation is increasing.
But the official warned the private firms against hastily seeking investment opportunities in Libya, where its new government is still struggling to establish its authority and maintain public order.
"Rather than focusing on post-war reconstruction projects, it is time for us to do 'public diplomacy' to win the hearts of Libyan people," the official said.
(Source: Yonhap News Agency)
