hankyoreh

Yesterday, on the second anniversary of the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Lee administration and ruling Grand National Party (GNP) unilaterally passed a bill in the National Assembly approving the redeployment of troops to Afghanistan, sending our officers and troops into an extremely dangerous area. This was pushed through without sufficient discussion over the matter of which the lives and safety of the people and the nation’s credibility rests. This is anti-democratic and anti-citizen behavior that reveals rashness in addition to arrogance and self-righteousness.

The decision is a clear reversal of a previous agreement. In 2007, the government promised both domestically and externally to withdraw from Afghanistan, and by the end of that year Korean engineering and medical units were completely withdrawn. This decision was reached amid the kidnapping of 23 and death of two South Korean civilians. Prior to this, sergeant Yoon Jang-ho was killed. In the process, we learned the costly lesson that our unjustified dispatch of troops came at a great cost and resulted in a great deal of pain. Yesterday, however, the Lee government completely reversed this agreement. Naturally, we worry about the possible loss of our nation’s credibility.

The redeployment is also far removed from international realities. Recently, the number of deaths of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has been on the rise, and the issue of civilian deaths is becoming even more serious. Occupation and war, far from eradicating terrorism, is only further inciting the armed resistance. Accordingly, the U.S. has also announced a timetable to begin withdrawing troops next year. In this situation, we are the only country in the world planning to redeploy troops. We cannot help but ask whether the Lee government is ignorant of the situation or is merely closing its eyes to please the U.S.

The Lee government claimed it would organize the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) focused on civilians to concentrate on humanitarian activity, while the military component would engage in only protection duty. On the ground, however, PRTs have been targets of attack as they are regarded in the same light as occupation forces. In early November of last year, when news broke that our government was planning to redeploy troops to Afghanistan, an armed group attacked the construction site of a Korean company. Despite this, the Lee government, without revealing the specifics of their plan, has pushed for the redeployment. If the redeployment takes place, the danger that our soldiers and our citizens will fall victim to a terrorist attack will correspondingly grow.

The period of deployment in yesterday’s bill is also uncharacteristically long at two years and six months. In a situation in which it would be insufficient even if annual parliamentary reports and approval were issued as a result of confusion and danger on the ground, the Lee government has been issued a blank check. Moreover, the GNP has not held a single public hearing about the redeployment, and has also rendered powerless parliamentary debate. The Lee government must withdraw its decision to redeploy troops to Afghanistan.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]