S. Korea to gradually expand its role in Afghanistan

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will focus on expanding its civilian-led
operation in Afghanistan first and follow up with other contributions, a senior
South Korean government official said Wednesday after his trip to the war-ravaged
nation.

Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon, who made a three-day visit to Afghanistan
last week to explore what Seoul can do more there, said he discussed "specifics"
of South Korea's future role in his meetings with Afghan officials and U.S.
military leaders.
He said, however, the discussions did not include the sensitive issue of whether
South Korea should re-dispatch troops.
"We have neither received any request for the troop dispatch nor discussed it
(during my trip)," he told reporters. "We talked about specifics on ways to
support the reconstruction of Afghanistan."
"Expanding our contribution to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) will be a
focal point to begin with," he said.
South Korea has maintained two dozen medical staff and vocational training
experts in the U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram, about 80km north of Kabul, to
assist the U.S. PRT there.
The staff were posted to make up for the 2007 withdrawal of its 200-strong team
of military medics and engineers.
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, given South Korea is one of Asia's largest
economies.
Playing a bigger role in Afghanistan has gained urgency for Seoul since the
inauguration of the Barack Obama administration in the U.S., its closest ally.
Obama views Afghanistan as a main battlefield in the fight against terrorism and
the U.S. plans to send up to 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan by the middle of
this year to defeat the growing Taliban insurgency.
South Korean officials say they have no plan to send troops there again for now
but would leave all possibilities open in case of Washington's official request.
"There are several options to aid Afghanistan," another foreign ministry official
said on the condition of anonymity. "Important factors to be considered include
public opinion, financial capability, and what the Afghan government needs."
He added Afghan officials asked South Korea to provide fire trucks and other
firefighting equipment along with patrol cars and motorcycles.
"They also want us to send police trainers and fire drill instructors," he said.
The government plans to have inter-agency consultations on how to make more
contributions to Afghanistan on the basis of the result of the fact-finding trip.
There are 34 PRTs from 14 nations in Afghanistan. A PRT requires its own security
forces in addition to civilian members. The South Korean troops once stationed in
northern Iraqi town of Irbil are an example for an independent PRT, officials
said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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