S. Korea hails Obama's new Afghan strategy

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea expressed support Wednesday for U.S.
President Barack Obama's plan to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.
"The government supports the U.S. decision to expand its Afghan aid efforts
including the surge in troop levels in a bid to accelerate stabilization and
reconstruction there," foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said in a
statement.
Moon said the U.S. move is expected to make huge contributions to efforts by the
Afghan people and the international community to aid the war-ravaged nation.
South Korea will continue to join such efforts, he added.
Earlier in the day, Obama unveiled a new fast-track war strategy, which revolves
around a plan to send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan with the aim of
"seizing the initiative" to end the increasingly unpopular war and begin a
pullout in July 2011.
South Korea plans to operate its own Provincial Reconstruction Team in
Afghanistan, composed of about 130 civilian aid workers and more than 300 troops
tasked with protecting them, starting in the first half of next year.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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