Obama to discuss S. Korea`s contribution to Afghanistan: White House

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will discuss South
Korea's contribution to the war in Afghanistan while in Seoul next week for a
summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the White House said Monday.
"The president has the ability to consult with Asian partners about his strategic
reviews as well as their own commitment in Afghanistan," Jeffrey Bader, senior
director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council, said in a
conference call to reporters on the occasion of Obama's upcoming trip to Asia,
including South Korea, which begins Thursday. Obama will also travel to Japan,
Singapore and China.
"I believe this will be a subject of consultations in Japan as well as in South
Korea," Bader said. "South Koreans have recently made a fairly robust commitment
to increase their efforts in Afghanistan."
South Korea announced last month its plans to send a Provincial Reconstruction
Team (PRT) to Afghanistan aside from its 25-member medical team currently
operating in the war-ravaged Central Asian nation.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said the PRT will be accompanied by troops to
ensure security, without specifying the size of the PRT or the number of troops,
but Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan has said that Seoul was considering sending a
130-strong PRT, and Defense Ministry officials have estimated the number of
troops at 300.
Bader said he appreciated the contributions South Korea and other Asian allies
are making in the war on terror. "It is important to underscore that several
Asian nations have been very strong contributors in Afghanistan through security
means, through civilian assistance and financial assistance."
Obama has yet to make a decision on the request by the U.S. military to dispatch
40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is gaining power
despite the presence of about 68,000 American troops.
South Korea withdrew more than 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan
in 2007 after 23 South Korean Christian missionaries were held captive. Two of
them were killed and the rest released after the Seoul government pledged to
withdraw the troops by the end of that year.
South Korea currently maintains 25 medical civilians at a U.S. base in Afghanistan.
Yu, South Korea's top diplomat, has said that increased aid to Afghanistan by
South Korea is linked to the stable deployment of 28,500 U.S. troops in the
Korean Peninsula, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Yu made his remarks just days after Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, told U.S. soldiers at Yongsan Army Garrison in Seoul last month
that discussions are under way about rotating U.S. troops out of South Korea,
although he said, "I certainly wouldn't expect this to happen in the near
future."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month also urged South Korea to enhance its
contributions to Afghanistan.
"I see a different dynamic and logic to Korea's international military role
today," Gates said. "In the past, deployments were considered something that
Korea was doing for the United States. Going forward, Korea's international
military contributions should be seen as what they are: something that is done to
benefit your own security and vital national interests."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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