Article Posted on : - Dec 16, 2010

Army Col. Song Myung-soon. A Yonhap photo

SEOUL (BNS): South Korea Thursday named its first female combatant general, according to the defense ministry.

Army Col. Song Myung-soon at the Joint Chiefs of Staff was promoted to brigadier general, it said.

"For years many my seniors have worked hard to improve the women's forces, and there will be more opportunities for some 5,000 female soldiers in the military from now on," Yonhap news agency quoted Song as saying.

"I think my promotion is a credit to others who will walk this path and their high efforts," she said.

Song, 52, was commissioned into the Women's Army Corps in 1981. She has served as a commander of the Special Forces and a battalion commander in the Women's Army Corps and worked in the Combined Forces Command.