President Lee to send special envoys to Afghanistan: source

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak will send three special envoys
to Afghanistan next week to discuss ways of guaranteeing the safety of South
Korean citizens there and boosting bilateral cooperation, a government source
said Thursday.

"President Lee will dispatch one ruling party lawmaker and two opposition
representatives to Afghanistan," the source said on condition of anonymity. "They
will attend the inauguration ceremony of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, scheduled
for Nov. 19."
The envoys will convey to the Afghan government Seoul's intention to actively
participate in the country's reconstruction and ask for measures to secure the
security of South Korean citizens in the war-torn country, he added.
The dispatch of special envoys comes after Seoul recently announced a decision to
increase its reconstruction workers in Afghanistan to around 130 and dispatch
about 300 security forces as part of efforts to play a bigger role in the
international community.
Following the announcement, concern has been rising over the safety of South
Korean workers in Afghanistan.
Seoul officials said Wednesday that a South Korean construction firm involved in
the reconstruction of Afghanistan has been attacked by armed, unidentified
insurgents three times since early October.
Construction equipment and vehicles of the Korean contractor, identified only by
its initial S, were damaged in the attacks between Oct. 8 and Nov. 5, but no
casualties were reported, according to the officials.
South Korea withdrew more than 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan
in 2007 after 23 South Korean Christian missionaries were taken hostage. Two of
them were killed, and the rest were released after the Seoul government pledged
to withdraw the troops by the end of that year.
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