By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday that the government will look for ways to extend practical assistance to Afghanistan in consultation with the United States.
Lee made the remarks after meeting Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan at Cheong Wa Dae.
Holbrooke, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, arrived in Seoul earlier in the day.
The visit signals U.S. President Barack Obama's new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He asked for Seoul's cooperation in the fight against terrorism, South Korean officials said.
Upon arrival in Seoul, he met with Yu Myung-hwan, minister of foreign affairs and trade, and Kim Sung-hwan, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and security.
During the meeting with President Lee, Holbrooke explained U.S. plans on the terrorism-plagued countries.
The U.S. envoy's Seoul visit was part of his Asian tour.
On Wednesday, he met with top Chinese foreign officials in Beijing. He flew to Tokyo late Thursday to participate in a two-day meeting of donor countries for Pakistan aimed at achieving peace and stability in the country.
President Obama has revamped Washington's Afghan strategy, broadening the mission to include pressure on neighboring Pakistan in a bid to root out the Taliban and Al-Qaida.
He has been seeking bigger roles from Korea, Japan and China in fighting terrorism.
Seoul has provided troops and financial aid to the security of Afghanistan since 2002. More than 300 medics and engineers in the Dongui and Dasan units carried out humanitarian and reconstruction operations before their pullout in December 2007.
Between 2002 and 2008, the country donated some $66 million to help reconstruct the terrorism-ridden nation. Last year, South Korea agreed to provide $30 million worth of additional assistance to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2011. After the withdrawal of troops in 2007, South Korea has been contributing to Afghan reconstruction efforts.
Delegates from about 20 countries, including the United States and Japan, and international organizations such as the United Nations, participated in the Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP) and Pakistan Donors Conference (DC) in Tokyo.
The FoDP, hosted by the Pakistani government, focuses on the international community's concerted efforts to fight terrorism and push for the stabilization of Pakistan's politics and economy. The DC, coordinated by the World Bank, is aimed at helping the country decrease its financial burden.