South Korea Says It Plans Afghanistan Deployment
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/world/asia/01troops.html
November 1, 2009
South Korea Says It Plans Afghanistan Deployment
By CHOE SANG-HUN [Afghanistan] [hydra] [began in Pakistan, but moved to Paksitan] [AfPak] [the rigged elections now have come to head with UN, US, others urging runoff-type solution] [apparently others have prevailed on Karzia to go through motions of democracy] [ROK announces potential deployment (albeit superficial) to AfPak—presumably to show Obama what good ally?] [*]
SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean government announced plans on Friday to send troops and police officers to Afghanistan to help protect its aid workers.
The plans, if approved by Parliament, will reinstate a South Korean military presence in Afghanistan two years after the country withdrew its 200 troops from there. The 2007 pullout followed a hostage crisis in which the Taliban killed 2 of 23 kidnapped Christian aid
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/world/asia/01troops.html
November 1, 2009
South Korea Says It Plans Afghanistan Deployment
By CHOE SANG-HUN [Afghanistan] [hydra] [began in Pakistan, but moved to Paksitan] [AfPak] [the rigged elections now have come to head with UN, US, others urging runoff-type solution] [apparently others have prevailed on Karzia to go through motions of democracy] [ROK announces potential deployment (albeit superficial) to AfPak—presumably to show Obama what good ally?] [*]
SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean government announced plans on Friday to send troops and police officers to Afghanistan to help protect its aid workers.
The plans, if approved by Parliament, will reinstate a South Korean military presence in Afghanistan two years after the country withdrew its 200 troops from there. The 2007 pullout followed a hostage crisis in which the Taliban killed 2 of 23 kidnapped Christian aid volunteers from South Korea while demanding a troop withdrawal. [*]
A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Moon Tae-young, did not say how many troops and police officers South Korea wanted to dispatch. But a mass-circulation daily, Chosun Ilbo, quoting unnamed government sources, said the plans called for deploying 300 soldiers and police officers early next year.
South Korea also plans to expand a reconstruction team now helping to rebuild Afghanistan to 130 to 150 workers, the report said. Currently there are 25 government-assigned aid workers in hospitals and job-training centers in Afghanistan. [*]
“Our troops will not engage in battles except for the security of our workers and for self-defense,” Mr. Moon said. [interesting concept of solider] [*]
The governing Grand National Party controls a majority in Parliament.
Any decision to send troops to Afghanistan should be made “cautiously,” said Woo Sang-ho, the spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party, which has yet to decide whether it will vote for the deployment.
The United States State Department welcomed South Korea’s decision. South Korea, an ally, fought alongside the United States during the Vietnam War and sent troops on noncombat duties in Iraq from 2003 to 2008.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company