The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday that South Korea will dispatch troops to an annual multinational peacekeeping exercise in Mongolia for roughly two weeks from Sunday.

A JCS official said South Korean soldiers have been taking part in the annual Khan Quest exercise in Mongolia since 2006. The official said it will send 39 peacekeeping troops and medical staff this year.

The exercises are intended to improve the peacekeepers abilities to carry out operations in preparation for international and humanitarian conflicts.

Mongolia has held the Khan Quest every year since 2003, mainly in the U.S. and Mongolia. Some nine-hundred troops from eleven nations, including Vietnam and India, will participate.