Korean Engineering, Medical Corps in Iraq Confined to Barracks Rapidly Changing Iraq Needs Utmost Attention The Iraq Deployment Gets Even Stranger Seoul Calls on Koreans in Iraq to Depart Concern Mounts Over Kidnappings in Iraq Gov't Tentatively Selects Irbil as Deployment Site

The government called a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Friday, one day after seven Koreans were released from detention by Iraqi armed insurgents, and decided to post a higher-level travel restriction, Chong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Tai-young said. According to Yoon, this means a virtual ban on travel to Iraq.

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon examines legal ways to prevent Korean citizens who are not on official business from entering Iraq, Friday.

On Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade also designated Iraq a “special country” which refers to a nation that is too dangerous to visit. The government requires people planning to visit the country to disclose the purpose of their visit and intended activities.

In anticipation of continued unrest, the NSC decided to induce all Koreans not on official business in Iraq to return home or evacuate to neighboring countries as soon as possible. The council plans to set up contingency plans for emergencies, after confirming the well being of Koreans staying in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

However, the NSC said that the situation does not call for a review of Korea’s plan to dispatch additional troops to Iraq and decided to push ahead with the schedule. A 13-member military investigation team left for Iraq on Friday for a 10-day inspection of the northern Iraqi region, where Korean troops are most likely to be deployed.

(Shin Jeong-rok, jrshin@chosun.com )