S. Korea in no hurry for decision on more Afghan assistance: officials

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, May 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea may consider providing further assistance
to Afghanistan, including a troop dispatch, but will take time to review the
decision in order to avoid possible domestic political dispute amid the Lee
administration's economic revival drive, officials said Sunday.
Seoul announced a plan last week to spend US$19.5 million to build a hospital and
a job training center in the war-ravaged nation within this year and increase the
number of its workers there to around 85 from the current 25.
South Korean officials admit that the planned contribution does not match its
status as the world's 13th-largest economy. Many say the U.S. hopes South Korea,
one of its main allies, will send troops to Afghanistan again, although the
Barack Obama administration has yet to make a formal request.
In his first summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in early April in
London on the sidelines of the G-20 financial summit, Obama emphasized the
importance of both military and non-military support for the U.S. efforts to
stabilize and reconstruct Afghanistan, according to an informed source. But Obama
did not directly ask for South Korea's military help, the source said. Confronted
with North Korea's heavily-armed troops, South Korean soldiers are known to be
well trained and disciplined.
Some local media have speculated that South Korea may try to unveil a new aid
package, including troop dispatch, before or shortly after the second summit
between Lee and Obama in Washington on June 16. Government officials dismissed
the speculation.
"We are considering additional aid under a policy to expand South Korea's global
role. But we will review the issue on a middle- and long-term basis regardless of
the upcoming South Korea-U.S. summit," a foreign ministry official said on the
condition of anonymity. "The U.S. government understands our difficulties in
deciding on more assistance."
He pointed out that the provision of troops by South Korea would be a politically
and ideologically contentious issue.
Another senior ministry official said the government does not want to cause an
"unnecessary controversy" at a time when it faces a lot of other pending issues
such as the slumping economy and the stalled six-way talks on the North Korean
nuclear program.
"Even if we push for a troop dispatch in a pure effort to increase contributions
to the international community, anti-American forces and other critics will
apparently view it as a politically motivated gift for the U.S." he said.
In 2004, South Korea sent thousands of troops to Iraq to assist the U.S.-led
campaign there following a political dogfight. Political wrangling had been
repeated whenever the government sought to extend the deployment each year. The
Zaytun unit was brought back home last year.
South Korea also withdrew its 200-strong team of military medics and engineers
from Afghanistan in 2007, ending their several years of mission there just months
after 23 South Korean church workers were kidnapped by the Taliban. Two of the
hostages were eventually executed, while the rest were released following Seoul's
reaffirmation of its plan to withdraw its troops from the country by the year's
end as scheduled.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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