Seoul completes mission in Kuwait, prepares withdrawal

SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's contingent in Kuwait concluded its military mission in the region and is set to be pulled out at the end of this month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Thursday.

The air support unit, Daiman, was deployed to Kuwait in October 2004 to transport
troops and equipment in and out of Iraq where South Korea's Zaytun contingent was
stationed, operating from the northern city of Irbil.
At a farewell ceremony hosted by JCS Vice chairman, Lt. Gen. Kim Joong-ryeon,
will be held late Thursday to mark the termination of the operations there and to
thank those who have helped the unit settle in the region, the JCS said.
"The Daiman contingent completed the mission with the coalition forces as of
today, but will continue the air support operations until Zaytun withdraws its
troops completely," said the JCS in a press release.
Zaytun and Daiman are scheduled to withdraw by Dec. 20, after the four-year
dispatch as members of the U.S.-led coalition forces.
During its deployment, the air support unit has transported over 43,000 troops
and some 4,400 tons of equipment and supplies, recording 6,000 hours or 3.2
million kilometers of accident-free flight as of November.
brk@yna.co.kr