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S. Korea to send 400 troops to Lebanon for UN peacekeeping
(KUNA) -- South Korea has decided to send about 400 troops, mainly Special Forces, to Lebanon to take part in a multinational peacekeeping operation there, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, citing defense sources. The Defense Ministry plans to submit a bill for the troop dispatch to the National Assembly early next month after securing approval from a Cabinet meeting, said the report. "The battalion-size contingent, consisting of 270 Special Forces as well as 130 medics, transportation, and administrative soldiers, will be contributed to the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon," a defense source was quoted as saying.The exact timetable and location for the deployment will be decided after consultation with the UN, which will bear all the costs necessary for dispatching and maintaining the troops in Lebanon. It remains to be seen whether it will be possible to gain parliamentary approval for sending the troops to Lebanon at a time when calls are mounting for the withdrawal of the South Korean troops stationed in Iraq, it said. The ruling Uri Party voted earlier Thursday to adopt the party line of presenting a pullout timeline to the National Assembly. The Zaytun unit, meaning "olive" in Arabic, has been deployed to help reconstruction efforts in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. Posted by: Fred 2006-11-25 |
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