ID :
42392
Fri, 01/23/2009 - 19:41
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/42392
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea makes on-site survey for role in Afghanistan
SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- A senior South Korean government official left Afghanistan on Friday after a three-day site visit to explore ways of expanding Seoul's future role there, the foreign ministry said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon led a team of South Korean foreign and
defense ministry officials on the trip, which was kept secret until their
departure, apparently due to security concerns.
"Deputy Foreign Minister Lee's trip was to see what more we can do in
Afghanistan," a ministry official said, asking not to be named.
The ministry said Lee met with Afghanistan's Vice Foreign Minister Mohammad Kabir
Farahi and Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar in Kabul to discuss the
post-war situation there and what the Afghan government wants from the outside
world.
Lee also visited the U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram, about 80km north of Kabul, to
inspect activities by a South Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) tasked
with providing medical services, the ministry said.
South Korea has maintained a civilian-led PRT composed of more than two dozen
medical staff and vocational training experts to make up for the 2007 withdrawal
of its 200-strong team of military medics and engineers from Afghanistan.
Seoul has provided Afghanistan with US$66 million in aid from 2002-2008 and
promised to offer $30 million from 2009-2011, but Korean officials admit that the
scale of its assistance is too small, considering that South Korea is one of
Asia's largest economies.
"We will make a decision on additional aid, taking into account the results of
the on-site survey," the official said.
However, dispatching troops again is not under consideration for now, he added,
but he would not talk about Seoul's response to a possible request by the new
U.S. government for fresh dispatch.
U.S. President Barack Obama views Afghanistan as a main battlefield in the fight
against terrorism and plans to send up to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by
the middle of this year to defeat the growing Taliban insurgency.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon led a team of South Korean foreign and
defense ministry officials on the trip, which was kept secret until their
departure, apparently due to security concerns.
"Deputy Foreign Minister Lee's trip was to see what more we can do in
Afghanistan," a ministry official said, asking not to be named.
The ministry said Lee met with Afghanistan's Vice Foreign Minister Mohammad Kabir
Farahi and Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar in Kabul to discuss the
post-war situation there and what the Afghan government wants from the outside
world.
Lee also visited the U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram, about 80km north of Kabul, to
inspect activities by a South Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) tasked
with providing medical services, the ministry said.
South Korea has maintained a civilian-led PRT composed of more than two dozen
medical staff and vocational training experts to make up for the 2007 withdrawal
of its 200-strong team of military medics and engineers from Afghanistan.
Seoul has provided Afghanistan with US$66 million in aid from 2002-2008 and
promised to offer $30 million from 2009-2011, but Korean officials admit that the
scale of its assistance is too small, considering that South Korea is one of
Asia's largest economies.
"We will make a decision on additional aid, taking into account the results of
the on-site survey," the official said.
However, dispatching troops again is not under consideration for now, he added,
but he would not talk about Seoul's response to a possible request by the new
U.S. government for fresh dispatch.
U.S. President Barack Obama views Afghanistan as a main battlefield in the fight
against terrorism and plans to send up to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by
the middle of this year to defeat the growing Taliban insurgency.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)
