South Korea's defense minister said Thursday that the country's troops stationed in Iraq will be able to "terminate their mission" of aid and reconstruction there by the end of next year.
"The government does not use the term 'pullout' or 'withdrawal' because of the political and diplomatic pressure involved," Kim Jang-soo said at a press briefing. "The government will follow parliament's decision."
His remarks came a few hours after the ruling Uri Party said the government agreed to accept the proposal to pull its troops out of Iraq by the end of next year.
According to party officials, the government will draw up an action plan for the withdrawal by June 2007 and implement it by the end of the year.
"The ruling party focuses on the mission termination, while we (the government) focus on troop cuts, the extension of the troop's deployment and then their mission termination," he told reporters.
The government had used the wording "mission termination" in its bill, and the ruling party said it interprets the phrase as referring to the eventual withdrawal of all South Korean troops from the Middle Eastern country.
"Uri decided to map out specific plans for the mission termination and set the deadline of the end of 2007 in the government bill," said Rep. Noh Woong-rae, deputy spokesman for the Uri Party.
On Tuesday, the government approved a one-year extension of the deployment of its troops in Iraq, saying it will draw up a timetable next year for the possible withdrawal of the Zaytun unit.
Wary of a possible diplomatic backlash from the United States, Noh said that the ruling party, not the government, will make a revision to the bill, so the government will only have to submit the bill to the National Assembly.
The defense minister said that it will present the bill to the National Assembly for approval on Friday.
"I cannot speculate about a timetable now. The government will only be able to draw up a pullout timetable later in consideration of the situation not only in Iraq, but also public opinion at home," he said, noting that if parliament amends the bill and approves it, the government should follow it.
In the case of parliamentary approval, about 1,100 of the contingent will return home by April next year. The rest will be brought home by the end of December 2007. Currently, some 2,300 troops are operating in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.
The Zaytun troops, whose name means "olive" in Arabic, have been deployed to help reconstruction efforts in Iraq since 2004.
South Korea initially deployed about 3,300 troops in Irbil at the request of the U.S. government, which is spearheading a war against terrorists.
Its deployment mandate is set to expire at the end of December.
The country is sharply divided over whether or not to keep its contingent there beyond this deadline.
Led by progressive lawmakers, the Uri Party last Thursday adopted the party line of demanding a pullout timeline from the government before it deliberates on the issue at the National Assembly.
Seoul, Nov. 30 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea to withdraw all troops from Iraq next year |
