Text Fwd: Military to Submit Motion Next Month to Dispatch 350 Troops to Afghanistan

* Image source/ caption: same as below
:'Dennis Blair, U.S. intelligence chief'

Korea Times
1-27-2009 17:26
Military to Submit Motion Next Month to Dispatch 350 Troops to Afghanistan
By Kim Sue-young, Staff Reporter

The Ministry of National Defense will submit a motion to the National Assembly next month on sending troops to Afghanistan and dispatch a survey team after the submission, according to a government source Friday.

The government is mulling over dispatching a 120-member provincial reconstruction team (PRT) and 350 troops to protect the aid workers, he added.

``The ministry plans to submit the motion and send the team for a detailed inspection,'' he said on condition of anonymity. ``They will determine on the dispatch site after the inspection and coordination with NATO.''

Seoul made public a plan late last month to expand its provincial reconstruction team (PRT) and provide troops to protect aid workers in the war-torn country.

A preliminary research group led by Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon inspected Parwan Province near the Afghan capital Kabul, which is considered the most suitable area to base civilian workers.

The number of aid workers and security forces, and the scope of their activities have yet to be determined but Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said that the number of troops would be more than 300.

``We are considering sending more than 300 troops to protect the civilians and cope with possible threats (from hostile forces),'' he said in a meeting of an Assembly subcommittee on national defense.

The remarks came after the chief of U.S. intelligence made a three-day unpublicized trip to South Korea from Sunday.

Dennis Blair, director of National Intelligence, met with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, Defense Minister Kim and National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon to discuss Seoul's troop dispatch trip to Afghanistan, and the North Korean nuclear issue, according to reports.

After his visit, the government held a policy coordination meeting and is mulling over sending more troops than originally planned, another government source said.

Blair, a retired Navy four-star admiral, is responsible for overseeing 16 intelligence organizations in the United States including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

He is also said to have met President Lee Myung-bak but Cheong Wa Dae refused to confirm the report.

South Korea withdrew its troops, medics and engineers from Afghanistan in 2007 after 23 missionaries were kidnapped by the Taliban.

Two of the hostages were killed before the remaining 21 were released under the condition that Seoul would remove its forces from the country.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr


* Related article

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350 South Korean Troops Offered To NATO For Afghanistan
UPI, Nov. 27, 2009


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http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/11/text-fwd-us-intelligence-chief-visited.html
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Text Fwd: U.S. intelligence chief visited S. Korea for Afghan deployment, nuke consultation