South Korea will start withdrawing its troops from Iraq Tuesday and plans to down-scale its military contingent there to 2,200 at the end of this year, the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) office said Monday.
The troop reduction will take place in five stages, when fewer incoming soldiers will replace their departing colleagues in the Middle Eastern country. On Tuesday, 457 troops will depart for Iraq while 497 return to Seoul.
Korea's Zaytun unit, which means "olive" in Arabic, has been deployed to help reconstruction efforts in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil since late 2003 at the request of the U.S. government, which is spearheading a war against insurgents there. (Yonhap NewsAgency)
S. Korea to Start Withdrawing Troops From Iraq |
