The 120-strong main contingent of South Korea’s “Akh” Unit will arrive in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via a chartered plane on Tuesday night (Korean time).

During its two-year stay, the unit comprised of 130 elite combat troops will help train the Middle Eastern country’s special forces and will protect Korean expatriates there in the case of an emergency.

The dispatch comes a month after the National Assembly endorsed a bill on the deployment of the unit in December following South Korea’s winning of an order to build a nuclear energy plant in the UAE in late 2009.

South Korea dispatched an advance team to the UAE earlier in the month to prepare for the main contingent.

This is the first time South Korea has sent forces to a country in a nonconflict region.

“Akh” means brother in the Arabic language.