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The government will submit by Thursday a bill extending the mission of Korean troops in Iraq by yet another year to the National Assembly. The bill envisages reducing the Zaytun Unit¡¯s troops in Irbil, northern Iraq but extending their stay for another year. Troops will be reduced from 1,200 to about 600 to 900. Some politicians and activist groups oppose the plan, saying the government promised to pull all troops out by the end of this year.
A government official on Sunday said a security policy coordination meeting at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday finalized the bill on delaying the withdrawal until late next year. The bill will be submitted to the National Assembly either on Tuesday afternoon or on Wednesday.
"The plan does not require a decision by a Cabinet meeting but should still be reported,¡± the official said. Right after the Cabinet meeting, Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo will report it to the National Assembly at Gyeryongdae, the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters near Daejeon, where the parliamentary Defense Committee will conduct its audit of the Defense Ministry.
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Activists chant slogans against extending the Zaytun Unit's mission in Iraq at a press conference in front of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul on Oct. 16./Yonhap
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¡ßConcern for Korea-U.S. alliance
In deciding to extend the Zaytun's mission in Iraq, the government apparently gave top priority to the Korea-U.S. alliance. The government did take into consideration the demand of locals in the Kurdish area and Korean enterprises' to extend the Korean troops¡¯ mandate. But the chief concern was the health of the Korea-U.S. relationship. A government official said, "Early this month, a team visited Iraq to evaluate the Zaytun Unit's performance. But you could say that the visit was designed to find a justification for the government's decision."
There were few dissenting opinions in the government regarding the extension of mission, but there was apparently some debate over the size of troop reductions. In Friday¡¯s meeting, some participants called for a drastic reduction to some 600, but Defense Ministry representatives reportedly stressed the need to maintain 900 troops to carry out basic duties. The bill is therefore expected not to specify the number and instead speak of ¡°troop numbers needed to carry out duties."
¡ß Protest
Already some protests are being heard.
United New Democratic Party floor leader Kim Hyo-seuk said Friday, "We can't agree to the government's plan ... We can¡¯t accept it, although we understand that the government has come up with it after taking relations with the U.S. into consideration."
UNDP deputy floor leader Choi Jae-sung accused the government of trying to link the Zaytun Unit¡¯s extended stay in Iraq with six-party talks on North Korea¡¯s nuclear program. ¡°That¡¯s not a good idea,¡± Choi said. ¡°Last year when the National Assembly agreed to the government's plan to extend the Zaytun Unit¡¯s stay (until the end of this year), the government promised to submit a detailed plan on the withdrawal of the entire unit to the house this year. So we can't approve the plan to extend the unit's stay."
The Democratic Labor Party also refused to accept another extension, saying the troops¡¯ withdrawal should be completed by year-end as originally scheduled.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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