By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter


South Korea plans to cut 1,000 soldiers from its 3,250-strong contingent in Iraq early next year, a senior government official said Friday.

The official also said on condition of anonymity that the government will consider a further reduction of troops in the war-torn Middle East country in the second half of next year after reviewing the security situation there.

``The government and the ruling Uri party are discussing the issue and will decide on the timing and scope of the pullout of troops,’’ he said.

The country has maintained the Zaytun Unit in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil for humanitarian and reconstruction work since August last year.

The Defense Ministry denied any fixed date and scope of the troop cut in Iraq, but said it started discussions on the issue at the instruction of Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung.

``During a meeting of senior ministry officials Thursday, Yoon said, it would be appropriate for the ministry to review options to cut South Korean troops in Iraq, following the success of the Oct. 15 referendum in Iraq which paved way for the adoption of the Constitution,’’ Brig. Gen. Shin Hyun-don told reporters.

The possibility of a troop cut in Iraq was buoyed early last month when a lawmaker of the ruling Uri Party called for the reduction of 1,000 troops, mostly combatants, from the Zaytun Unit, whose main mission is to help rebuild the Kurdish-controlled city and provide medical support.

During a National Assembly session last Tuesday, Yoon said his ministry will submit to the Assembly a motion for the extension of troop deployment to Iraq for another year, at an early date.

Under a bill endorsed by the Assembly last December, the mission of the contingent expires Dec. 31 this year.

Asked about the news reports of Japan’s troop pullout from the war-torn country next May, the official at the presidential National Security Council said he has not had any detailed information on that. ``As far as I know, Japan has not made a decision on its troop withdrawal out of Iraq,’’ he said.

Recent reports said that Tokyo is studying a plan to pull out its 600-strong Ground Self-Defense Force troops, which are stationed in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah, by next May, as the Iraqi security situation is improving. The Japanese troops are supposed to stay in Iraq until Dec. 14.

Australia and Britain also reportedly plan to withdraw their troops from Samawah by next May.

At the request of Washington, Seoul dispatched some 3,600 troops to Iraq in August 2004. During the one-year deployment, some 400 South Korean troops were rotated out of Iraq and replaced at several junctures.

The current 3,250 South Korean troops represent the third largest contingent in Iraq after those of the United States and Britain. The U.S. keeps about 150,000 soldiers there and Britain about 8,500.

Since the outbreak of the war in Iraq in March 2003, the death toll of American soldiers has reached about 2,000 and that of the British military stands at around 100.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr