(LEAD) S. Korea may send non-combat troops to Afghanistan: FM

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with defense official's comments, other details; RECASTS
lead)
By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said
Monday that his country may send troops again to Afghanistan, reversing Seoul's
practice of refuting related speculation and media reports.
Yu's remarks at the National Assembly are expected to set off political
controversy over whether Seoul should provide military support to the U.S.-led
campaign in the war-hit country known as a base for international terrorism
networks.
Apparently mindful of it, the minister said Seoul is mulling the dispatch of
non-combat troops tasked solely with protecting South Korean workers there.
"The dispatch of combat troops is not being considered, but we are taking various
ideas into account, including sending police or troops who can protect Provincial
Reconstruction Team (PRT) workers," Yu told lawmakers. The government "will
decide the details through consultations with the National Assembly," he added.
Sending troops to Afghanistan is a highly sensitive issue in South Korea, where
anti-American and anti-war rallies are frequent, although the country is a close
ally of the United States.
Yu and other South Korean government officials had often told the media that the
government does not plan to send troops to Afghanistan "for now."
Speaking to lawmakers on Monday, however, Yu said it may be necessary to send
troops to guard South Korea's civilian workers in Afghanistan as Seoul plans to
increase their number to about 130.
In 2007, South Korea pulled its 200-strong team of military medics and engineers
out of Afghanistan, terminating their mission. It has instead stationed about two
dozen medical staff and job trainers at the U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram, 80km
north of Kabul, to assist the U.S. PRT efforts.
Seoul has already promised to increase the number of its civilian workers there
to around 90 by early next year, when its ongoing construction of a large-scale
hospital and a job training center at the Bagram base is scheduled for
completion.
"We plan to dispatch at least about 130 civilian specialists for the
reconstruction of Afghanistan," he said, without mentioning a concrete timeline.
When asked to give specifics, he only said the specialists will include medical
workers and vocational and police trainers.
Defense ministry officials also confirmed that inter-agency consultations on the
possible troop dispatch are underway.
"The Joint Chiefs of Staff estimates around 300 troops will be needed to guard
the PRT workers," a senior ministry official said, adding they are unlikely to
carry heavy weapons as they are not combatants.
"It seems that the government is close to a consensus on a plan to send a
300-strong unit," he added.
On the possibility that some of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea will be
redeployed to Afghanistan or the Middle East, the minister said, "The
stabilization of Afghanistan is directly related to the creation of conditions
for the stable presence of United States Forces Korea (USFK)."
On a trip here last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of
Staff, said in a meeting with members of the USFK that the Pentagon may send some
of the U.S. troops stationed here to the other conflict areas.
"Certainly, that's something that we are looking very specifically at. And, in
fact, there have been forces that were here that went to Iraq," he said, adding
Washington and Seoul are discussing the matter.
South Korea's stance on the troop dispatch has visibly shifted after U.S. Defense
Secretary Robert Gates urged Seoul last week to play a bigger role in global
security.
"Korea's military must adapt and transform to new environments and new types of
threats, to not only protect the homeland, but also transform into a force that
can also carry out roles commensurate with its growing stature as a global
Korea," Gates had said in a speech for U.S. troops stationed in Seoul while in
Seoul for annual security talks with South Korea.
"We encourage the Republic of Korea (South Korea)'s political leaders to make an
investment in defense appropriate to Korea's emerging role as a contributor to
global security and commensurate with the threat you face on the peninsula."
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-yong said his military is readying for "any
request" from the government to provide assistance to Afghanistan.
"The military is making preparations to meet every demand from the government,"
Kim told lawmakers on Friday, adding South Korea needs to make appropriate
contributions as an ally to the United States.
"The government will decide whether to dispatch troops, and the military is
reviewing how to carry out any government decision," Kim said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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