South Korea has decided to dispatch military medical staff to an Ebola-hit African nation around next month to join global efforts to eradicate the deadly epidemic, Seoul's defense ministry said Thursday. 

The government is mulling sending a five-member delegation comprised of two military surgeons and three nurse officers to either Liberia or Sierra Leone around the end of November at the earliest, according to the ministry.

"After up to two weeks of training in Africa, they will treat patients and provide other necessary medical services for about four weeks," a ministry official said.

"Completing the mission, they will be kept in quarantine to check if they are infected and then take some time for rest either in the African country, South Korea or a third nation," he said, adding the process of recruiting volunteers is underway. 

The military medical staff will join the country's 10-member civilian medical team scheduled to be dispatched to Africa next month.

The decision is part of South Korea's efforts to expand its role in addressing the challenge. It plans to send an advance team of government officials to the affected countries early next month in an effort to assess the situation there before dispatching its medical workers.

Seoul has pledged US$5.6 million in aid to contain the spread of the virus, which is estimated to have killed more than 4,500 people. (Yonhap)