S. Korea calls Taliban warning psychological rhetoric

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- The Taliban's warning against South Korea's planned
deployment of troops to Afghanistan amounts to routine rhetoric served up as part
of psychological warfare, Seoul's defense ministry said Wednesday.

The Taliban threatened "bad consequences" last week after South Korea announced
it would deploy up to 350 troops to Afghanistan with a mission of protecting its
civilian reconstruction workers there.
The Ministry of National Defense, in a booklet distributed to local news outlets,
described the threat as "conventional" and said it constitutes a method of
"sophisticated psychological warfare."
"It is our assessment that the threat is conventional and is aimed at stemming
the deployment of our troops by stoking opposition within South Korea," it said.
The booklet was provided as part of the defense minister's meeting with editorial
writers from South Korean news companies, including Yonhap News Agency.
"The announcement of the Taliban statement had been sufficiently foreseen," it
added.
The U.S. announced early this month that it would increase the number of its
troops in Afghanistan by 30,000, in an effort to tamp down violence and assist
reconstruction efforts in the country.
South Korea followed up with its own plans to deploy a regular contingent of 320
troops from July next year through the end of 2012 in Parwan Province. The
motion, which also allows for the deployment of four helicopters, is subject to
approval by the National Assembly where the ruling party holds the majority.
The booklet, which said the deployment could be retracted at any time "depending
on the situation," noted the Taliban threat, in essence, did not single out South
Korea but targeted all countries sending troops to Afghanistan.
The Taliban, seen as operating with Al Qaeda in the Central Asian country,
claimed on Dec. 9 that Seoul promised not to re-deploy troops when the sides
negotiated the fate of 23 South Korean Christian missionaries held captive in
2007.
Two of the missionaries were killed, and the rest released. South Korea says it
never made the promise during the negotiations, which led to the withdrawal of
its 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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