South Korea considers new troop deployment to Afghanistan

Posted on : 2009-10-27 11:54 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Observers expect expansion of Provincial Reconstruction Team and deployment of troops to ensure their safety will occur in tandem and offered as President Obama’s visit to Seoul nears
 Trade and Unification Committee
Trade and Unification Committee

It appears that the South Korean government is preparing to redeploy troops to Afghanistan on the pretext that an expansion of provincial reconstruction team (PRT) personnel requires more troops to ensure their safety.

At a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee on Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan announced plans to dispatch and employ a minimum of 130 civilian specialists for the reconstruction of Afghanistan. “We intend to enlarge the scale of the hospital being managed by the Korean PRT, and the scale of job education and police trainings being provided,” Yu said.

Prior to this announcement, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates requested “additional assistance” beyond economic support during the annual South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul on Thursday.

Minister Yu said, “We are not considering the deployment of combat troops, however, we are examining how the deployment of troops or police can protect PRT personnel that we are deploying to Afghanistan.” He added that details would be decided on during future discussions with the National Assembly. These remarks from the foreign minister smack strongly of an attempt to sound out public opinion on new deployments. In particular, analysts are saying the fact that Yu mentioned “troop deployment” means that there is a possibility that military forces that were withdrawn due to a hostage incident in Afghanistan could be sent in once again. This has raised suspicions among some observers over whether the South Korean government is attempting to test public support for redeployment.

To date, a number of officials within the South Korean government have informally talked about the need for new troop deployments to Afghanistan, but formal remarks have been avoided out of a concern for public opinion critical of the idea. Yu’s remarks at the National Assembly committee on Monday seem to indicate some resolution on his part, as they present the same perspective and logic evinced by certain government officials who have unofficially talked about the need for new troop deployments. This logic holds that in order to contribute to reconstruction activity in Afghanistan, a large-scale increase in PRT numbers is inevitable, and new deployments of guards are necessary to protect the increased number of PRT personnel being dispatched. Indeed, Yu announced Monday that the number of PRT workers would be increased to at least 130.

Analysts say Minister Yu’s attempt to stir up support for new troop deployments appears related to demands from the U.S. government. To date, the South Korean government has stated that decisions on assistance for Afghanistan would be made according to its own independent judgments. The U.S. government has also shown, at least formally, the attitude that this is a matter for which the South Korean government must make its own decision.

It is an open secret, however, that the U.S. desires not only economic assistance for Afghanistan but also new troop deployments. While visiting South Korea for the SCM, Gates delivered a speech to Combined Forces Command soldiers on Wednesday in which he said, “South Korea’s international military contributions should be seen for what they are, something that is done to benefit your own security and vital to national interests.” Analysts are interpreting this as a roundabout request for new South Korean deployments. Furthermore, they suggest the South Korea government has been put in the position of having to demonstrate its “good faith” given that a South Korea visit by U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled for the middle of next month.

However, it will not be easy to convince South Koreans to support the new troop deployments to Afghanistan, as they certainly will recall the “Taliban hostage crisis” in the summer of 2007 that took the lives of two South Koreans who were in Afghanistan participating in missionary and volunteer work. Moreover, there are still lingering apprehensions that even if guards are deployed rather than combat forces, this could still eventually lead to a large-scale deployment. Nor is there an economic benefit to be gleaned from deployments to Afghanistan, which has no particular resources besides opium. The South Korean government is being obliged to offer the vague justification that “taking part in the war on terror is an obligation for moving forward into a global Korea.”

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