They will fill the work boots of a larger troop contingent with Korea's Zaytun division whose mission is devoted to humanitarian projects and reconstruction to help local residents rebuild lives.

Marking this year's final dispatch, the farewell ceremony was celebrated with special performances that included displays of taekwondo and other martial arts.

A soldier said, "My mission in the Zaytun Unit will be convoy and security while conducting civil affairs operations. Martial-arts skills are very useful for maintaining good relations with the locals who want to learn self-defense. Such diverse efforts make Korea the best among the coalition forces dispatched in Iraq."

The Zaytun Unit is playing an exemplary role in northern Iraq because medical service, vocational training programs and even cultural activities are helping the residents improve their livelihood.

In 2004, about 3,600 troops were deployed to northern Iraq's Kurdish region at the request of the U.S. government. Now even with about 2,400, it's still the third-largest foreign contingent after the U.S. and Britain.

Unlike other units, the focus of Zaytun, whose name means "olive" in Arabic, is on humanitarian needs. At the Zaytun hospital, about 150 patients obtain treatment each day in everything from dental work to surgery. The Zaytun job center has trained more than 1,000 Iraqis in computers, baking and operating heavy trucks.

The troops' mission expires at the end of this year and the Defense Ministry has submitted a proposal to the National Assembly to extend the mission by another year. The proposal also calls for a reduction in troop size by almost half.

Arirang News