3,000 Troops to Be Deployed in Kirkuk From April


By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter

Deployment of the nation’s contingent of 3,000 troops to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk will begin in April until the end of next year to help rebuild the war-devastated Middle Eastern nation, officials said on Tuesday.

The Seoul government finalized the decision during a Cabinet meeting at Chong Wa Dae.

The Defense Ministry plans to refer the proposal, signed by President Roh Moo-hyun, to the National Assembly, which is likely to endorse it since the major political parties have been supporting the plan.

Seoul officials recently visited Washington to coordinate the matter with U.S. officials, who complied with the former’s plan to station the troops in Kirkuk, according to a Chong Wa Dae official.

The contingent will independently take charge of the area, which is the center of Iraq’s oil industry. It is regarded as being safer than the so-called Sunni Triangle.

Seoul’s fact-finding mission to Iraq earlier reported the residents in Kirkuk have been friendly to Koreans and recommended the region as the appropriate site for troop deployment.

South Korea earlier decided to send some 3,000 soldiers to Iraq consisting of both combat and non-combat troops that include engineers and medics.

Seoul has said the contingent will engage in non-military operations with a focus on rehabilitation in concern of growing attacks on Koreans and anti-Korean sentiment there.

Some 700 army engineers and medic are already active in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

Opponents have been resisting the move to send more soldiers to Iraq and gained further momentum when two South Korean civilians were killed in an ambush by suspected Iraqi insurgents earlier this month.

The government has been expressing hope that the security situation in Iraq will continue to stabilize with the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, thus facilitating its bid to dispatch troops.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr