Number of Combat Troops to be Increased by More Than 1,000

Regarding the controversy on the size of troop dispatch to Iraq, South Korea’s government indicated that it will positively review the plans on increasing the total number of troops and its proportion of combatants from the actual plan of “non-combatant-centered troop dispatch of around 3000 soldiers.”

Early on November 11 during an official meeting of reunification, foreign affairs and security, presided by President Roh Moo-hyun at the Blue House, the government reportedly agreed to the opinions that South Korea cannot help “considering the United States’ request for dispatching more than 3,000 Korean troops who are capable of operating a stabilization unit in Iraq.”

The government said it is advisable for the dispatched troops to take charge of a designated area in Iraq and independently maintain public order and support activities for rehabilitation in parallel. In accordance with the new plan, the government is reviewing on the plan of 1,000 combat troops and 2,000 non-combat soldiers to be changed to at least 2,000 combat troops.

Concerning an area for the Korean dispatched troops, the government is assuming that Kirkuk City, the area which is currently under the operation of 173 units of the U.S. Army in the northern part of Iraq, is likely to be selected. Kirkuk City is a place where security conditions are rather stable and petroleum resources are of most concern.

President Roh Moo-hyun is likely to submit a bill for motion to the National Assembly prior to the closing of regular National Assembly sessions on December 9, after meeting with the four major party leaders. Before that, the president will make a final decision on the size, timing and feature of the troop dispatch based on the report by the fact-finding missions to Iraq late this month.

Regarding this, Lieutenant General Cha Young-koo, Deputy Minister of Defense, said in a briefing, “In terms of military and humanitarian aspects, it appears to be more desirable if the Korean troops take responsibilities in specific areas in Iraq for the purpose of effectively achieving additional dispatch missions.” Lt. Gen Cha added that a certain degree of consensus has been arranged in the government.

“During our visit to the United States, there were no specific debates on the size and the timing of troop dispatch however, we had a feeling that an expectation from Washington has been somewhat widened since they first requested for troop dispatch in September,” said Lt. Gen. Cha.

“It seemed that the United States wants South Korea to pay more attention to security maintenance for the stabilization of the area, since the role as “function unit,” such as engineering and medical, can be operated more effectively by private companies,” he explained. “In the military’s point of view, taking charge of a responsible area independently rather than belonging to multinational forces, such as the Seohee unit and the Jema unit, would be more favorable in a bid to raise the nation’s status and take care of the safety of our troops.”

Meanwhile, President Roh Moo-hyun will meet U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld November 17-18 in the Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) and will discuss the troop dispatch issue.

Jeong-Hun Kim Sang-Ho Yun jnghn@donga.com ysh1005@donga.com