Korea Ignores Taliban Warning on Troop Dispatch
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that a planned troop dispatch to Afghanistan would not be affected by a warning by the Taliban of retaliation against Koreans.
The government submitted a motion to the National Assembly calling for the dispatch of about 320 security forces to accompany 100 civilian reconstruction workers to the Central Asian country later in the day.
On Wednesday, the Taliban issued a warning, saying that South Korea's leaders ``should be prepared for the consequence of their action, which they will certainly face.''
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for its part, said it was taking steps to ensure the safety of Korean nationals in the Central Asian country.
Defense ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said: ``We already expected such a threat from the Taliban. The military is fully bracing for the deployment. Troops will be sent to a relatively safe region, so there will be few problems with operating there.''
Won said there was no change in plans to equip Korean troops for the Afghan mission.
The ministry plans to deploy four UH-60 transport helicopters, an unmanned aerial vehicle, thermal imagers and K11 airburst assault rifles, officials said.
It was also discussing with the United States a plan to lease the U.S. Army's Mine Resistant Armored Vehicle (MRAPs), they said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said: ``We're making every effort to ensure the safety of Korean residents in Afghanistan by contacting each person and private firm there through our embassy in Kabul.''
The Taliban militant group insisted that South Korea has failed to deliver on a pledge not to redeploy troops to Afghanistan.
The pledge was made in 2007 when a group of Korean hostages were released, it said.
The government earlier dismissed the claim, saying it had not made such a promise.
In July 2007, a group of 23 Christian volunteers were kidnapped by the Taliban while traveling on a bus in Ghazni Province. The extremists killed two men in the group before freeing the others after holding them for 43 days.