S.Korea to bring home half of its troop in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-24 16:42
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea has decided to bring home almost half
of its troops in Iraq while extending their overall deployment for another year,
a news report said Friday.
Seoul plans to withdraw 1,100 troops out of
2,300-member contingent in the northern Iraq city of Irbil by early next year,
said Yonhap news agency said, citing a government official it didn't identify by
name.
South Korean officials at the Foreign Ministry and National Security
Council were not immediately available for confirmation.
The reported
move came a day after South Korea's ruling Uri Party said it will endorse the
government's bid to keep the country's troops in Iraq for another year in return
for a timetable for withdrawal.
South Korea sent almost 3,600 troops to Iraq
in 2004 to support U.S.-led actions there, but has been gradually reducing their
presence.
Seoul's current contribution of 2,300 troops makes it
Washington's second-biggest coalition partner after Britain. The contingent's
mission was to expire at the end of this year, but the Defense Ministry plans to
submit a proposal to parliament to keep them there until the end of 2007.
The deployment is unpopular among South Koreans, mainly due to security
concerns. In June 2004, Islamic insurgents beheaded a South Korean civilian
working in Iraq after Seoul rejected demands to withdraw its
troops.
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