Officials cautious on troops for Iraq

The Blue House scrambled yesterday to downplay remarks by the senior secretary for political affairs, Yoo Ihn-tae, suggesting that a U.S. request to send Korean combat troops to Iraq was unworthy of consideration.
Top officials were cautious in their comments. President Roh Moo-hyun said the troop deployment hinged on “the perception by the public of whether the dispatch is right or wrong.”
He said national interests, including Korea’s future position in the international community and relations with Arab countries, would be weighed before making a decision.
On Tuesday, Mr. Yoo remarked that the United States wanted the aid of combat forces, but that Korea was a sovereign country and “ought not do everything the United States says.”
Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan said the U.S. request envisioned an autonomous Korean force to oversee the security of an area of Iraq.
Mr. Yoon told reporters, however, there had been no specific request from the United States about the size or operation of the force. No timetable existed on a possible deployment, he said, but the issue should be decided “fairly soon.”
Later, he told the foreign relations and unification committee of the National Assembly the government could review the request over the next two to three months and make a decision before the end of the year.
Mr. Yoon travels to New York on Sunday and will speak to the UN General Assembly next week on issues including stabilizing Iraq and the North Korean nuclear threat.
Asked by reporters whether a failure by the UN Security Council to establish a multinational force to reinforce U.S. operations in Iraq would negatively affect the government’s decision, Mr. Yoon said the UN role was just one of several factors to be considered.
Defense Minister Cho Young-kil told the National Assembly defense committee a team of defense and foreign affairs officials and private sector experts would be sent to Iraq next week to assess the need for added military forces.
Separately, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the United States expected help from its allies. Officials accompanying Grand National Party chairman Choe Byung-yul to Washington said Mr. Armitage spoke of establishing a multinational force in Iraq mandated by the Security Council, not a UN force.

by Kim Young-sae