SEOUL, 31 December 2005 — South Korea’s Parliament yesterday approved government plans to cut its troop numbers in Iraq, where it has the third-largest force, by one-third next year.
The National Assembly voted by 110 to 31 for the Defense Ministry Bill to cut the 3,200-strong South Korean troop contingent to 2,300 and extend its stay in Iraq for another year until the end of 2006.
South Korean troops, whose numbers in the war-ravaged country are exceeded only by the United States and Britain, have been stationed in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil. The government plans to reduce the contingent in the first half of 2006.
The Defense Ministry welcomed the vote saying the extended presence of South Korean troops in Iraq would help Seoul cement security ties with Washington.
The ruling Uri Party, which holds 144 seats was helped by minor opposition parties to ram 20 bills through the 299-member assembly which has been boycotted by the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP).
Of 158 legislators, 17 including some ruling party members abstained from voting. The conservative GNP, which once promised to endorse an extended mission by South Korean troops in Iraq, has held anti-government rallies outside the assembly since the ruling party railroaded a new private school law through parliament on Dec. 9.
In January 2004, the assembly approved the deployment of up to 3,600 troops to Iraq for relief and rehabilitation efforts but not for combat missions.
US President George W. Bush has praised South Korea’s presence in Iraq, but South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun had proposed a reduced contingent there in response to protests from civic groups.
“South Korea does not have to follow the footsteps of US troops but we should think about our position in the international community,” Kim Song-kon, a senior ruling party member, said in a speech before the vote, urging legislators to approve the bill.
Anti-war groups here have staged a series of protests triggered by the execution of a South Korean translator by militants in Iraq in June 2004.
US soldiers have been stationed here to help 650,000 South Korean military troops face up to North Korea’s 1.2 million-strong army.
The United States, however, is in the process of reducing its forces in South Korea to 25,000 by 2008 and withdrawing them from the border with North Korea to bases south of Seoul.
Seoul is also at odds with Washington over its plan to deploy Korea-based US troops elsewhere in times of need.
