It is wrong to distinguish between combat and noncombat troops, Cha said, and that to send combatants was desirable to guarantee the security of Korean troops and raise the status of Korea in the international community. He qualified the statement, saying it was not the Defense Ministry’s unilateral opinion - but added that such a consensus had been formed within the government.

The opinion contrasts sharply with the stance the government has announced, calling for the dispatch to involve mainly medics and engineers. Some analysts are saying that the government’s stance has shifted again, toward sending combatants.

Cha, who participated in the U.S.-Korea assistant deputy ministers meeting held in Washington last week, said that Washington, as it had done in September, was still asking Korea to send 3,000-5,000 mainly combat forces, or a contingent much like the one Poland has sent, and that it expected more for Korea. Details are expected to be determined at the Security Consultative Meeting between the two nations next week.

The government’s second fact-finding team to Iraq, headed by Kim Man-bok, pointed out in its report that security in Iraq was generally unstable and that the attacks by extremist Muslims were systemically organized. The insecurity would probably continue for a while, it added.

The investigation team said that Iraqis wanted equipment and training support from Korea, rather than the dispatch of combat forces. Iraqis said that if Korea sends more troops they would prefer noncombatants supporting a reconstruction mission, and that its security duties should be openly and independently run, being differentiated from that of the United States.

The government discussed the size and characteristics of the dispatch in a security-related ministers meeting over which the president presided, after receiving reports from the second fact-finding team and the assistant deputy ministers meeting. The results of the discussion were not disclosed. (Shin Jeong-rok, jrshin@chosun.com )