The government finalized its Afghan troop deployment plan on Tuesday, deciding to dispatch around 100 civilian reconstruction workers, 40 police officers and around 350 soldiers to Parwan Province north of Kabul. The personnel will be in charge of administrative and medical support, agricultural and rural development and vocational and police training.
The troops will be deployed in Afghanistan from July 1, 2010 until Dec. 31, 2012 and their main mission will be protecting the Korean civilian aid workers and trainers. Parwan Province is not a Taliban stronghold and is considered relatively safe among the 34 provinces, while its proximity to a U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram makes it easy to fly in supplies should emergencies arise. Parwan Province is 10 times the size of Seoul, and 70 percent of its terrain is covered by rugged mountains. Recently, there have been attacks by rockets, mortars and improvised explosive devices.
Most of the soldiers being deployed there will be picked from the special forces units, and armored personnel carriers and UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopters mounted with machine guns will also be sent to protect the Korean personnel because support from American and other multinational forces would not be readily available.
The greatest concern is the safety of the personnel. The government must take preemptive diplomatic steps to explain to its Arab allies that the mission of the contingent is to assist in reconstruction efforts, and that the troops are being sent to protect the Korean civilian aid workers.
As it reviews the deployment plan, the National Assembly must make sure that all measures have been taken by the military to ensure the safety of personnel. The main opposition Democratic Party is against the plan and is taking issue with the two-and-a-half-year deployment schedule, which differs from the previous administration's approach of renewing the mission every year. Germany, which has set its troop deployment schedule at one year renewable, is experiencing a massive headache every time its parliament has to ratify an extension, while troops face increased pressure and attacks in Afghanistan when that time comes.
The Roh Moo-hyun administration deployed the Dongui (medical) and Dasan (engineering) units, as well as Air Force transport personnel to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2002, when the DP was the ruling party. The Roh administration faced considerable opposition to the troop dispatch but decided it needed to send them in view of the international fight against terrorism and the importance of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Rather than flatly rejecting the new troop deployment plan, the DP must tap into its experience as the former ruling party and suggest constructive ways to ensure the safety of the Korean civilian workers and soldiers and protect the national interest.