An additional 3,230 soldiers are to join the 464 who are currently with the Seohee and Jaema units in Iraq. The dispatch will be 3,700 soldiers in total.

The government finally decided on a dispatch bill Wednesday in a meeting of ministers for unification and security affairs, presided over by President Roh Moo-hyun. The special forces and general troops are to take responsibility for an as-yet undesignated region.

The 3,230 are to be divided into two groups that will both operate in the same region. The government plans to deploy 230 additional soldiers for the Seohee and Jaema units, which were originally approved by the National Assembly to include 700 soldiers in all. A Cabinet meeting on December 23 is expected to pass the bill and send it to the National Assembly for ratification.

Cho Young-kil, the Minister of Defense, said in a press conference that a division headquarters would be created and units participating in various missions, such as nation-rebuilding support and surveillance, would operate under it. The headquarters is to include staff from the Army, Navy and Air Force. The Defense Ministry has been considering including not only special forces, but also marines, commandos and infantry soldiers, with the surveillance unit, Cho said.

Cho said that because the Korean troops might have difficulties supporting nation-building missions in the designated region, civilian experts would be dispatched to help the forces and to carry out humanitarian relief activities. The region that the Korean forces are to run is to be one of three northern cities: Kirkuk, Tal Apar and Kwayara, and the southern city of Nasiriya, where the Seohee and Jaema units have been operating.

A negotiating team led by General Kim Jang-soo departed for the United States to discuss matters on the dispatch with key officials of the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Yoo Yong-won, kysu@chosun.com )