Six Cambodian children with heart disease flew to South Korea last night for free medical treatment.

The effort is part of a Korean Salvation Army project to annually treat dozens of children with heart defects from ASEAN countries.

The Cambodians are up first.

Though the kids just left, parents are already rejoicing.

“I feel that my son has a new life, and he can live happily with us forever,” said Eng Hach, father of Eng Tong, a 13-year-old boy with the group. “I’m really grateful of the Korean doctors and sponsors for helping my son and other children.”

Eng Tong is one of 10 children selected by South

Korean doctors in cooperation with the Cambodian Ministry of Health.

More than 200,000 people suffer from heart disease in the Kingdom, about 20,000 of them children, according to Surgeons of Hope, an international organisation bringing medical care to developing countries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mom Kunthear at [email protected]