By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
All South Korean troops stationed in Iraq and Kuwait will return home by the year-end, ending four years of humanitarian and rehabilitation missions there, the Ministry of National Defense announced Friday.
Currently, about 520 South Korean soldiers of the Zaytun unit are carrying out reconstruction operations in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, while there is also a 130-strong transport contingent in Kuwait.
Their one-year troop deployment, endorsed by the National Assembly last November, is to expire in December. But speculations have arisen that the conservative Lee Myung-bak government would seek an extension to the troop deployment to help the U.S.-led stabilization operation in Iraq.
``The plan to withdraw troops from Iraq remains unchanged,'' ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters. ``Coalition partners in Iraq have not asked us for the extension of troop deployment, and the troops are supposed to be pulled out of Iraq by the year-end under a parliamentary motion approved last year.''
First deployed in 2004 with some 3,600 troops, the Zaytun unit, whose name means ``olive'' in Arabic, has conducted successful reconstruction and humanitarian missions, including the construction of schools, hospitals and public buildings, and providing free medical services and vocational training for locals.
The United States and other coalition forces have copied Zaytun's civil support programs, ministry officials said.
Supporters for the extension of deployment have cited potential economic benefits, such as an oil concessions to the Kurdish-controlled region and large-scale construction contracts. Opponents have argued projected economic gains are overblown and there are no reasons to stay in the war-torn Middle East country at a time when many coalition forces are rushing to exit or reduce their military presence.
South Korea keeps the fourth largest troop numbers in Iraq, after the United States with about 144,000 troops, the United Kingdom with 4,100 and Poland with 900.