US hails Seoul's decision to send 300 to Afghanistan

Sat Oct 31, 2009

Washington appreciates South Korea's plan to send troops to Afghanistan as the US-led war continues to exhaust the contributors' resources without curbing the violence.

"We welcome the ROK [Republic of Korea] announcement that it will expand its assistance to Afghanistan," said the US State Department on Seoul's plans to assign a reported number of 300 soldiers and police officers to Afghanistan in early 2010, the Russian Information Agency Novosti reported on Saturday.

"We are confident that this assistance will be of great value to the people of Afghanistan," the State Department said in a statement.

The South Korean government announced the plan on Friday, the New York Times reported.

“Our troops will not engage in battles except for the security of our workers and for self-defense,” the American daily quoted a South Korean Foreign Ministry, Moon Tae-young as saying.

However, the country's Parliament is also yet to endorse the decision.

Seoul broke off its military cooperation in the field with Washington in 2007, withdrawing its noncombatants from Afghanistan and Iraq and ruling out any redeployment.

South Korea, however, is considered Washington's strongest ally in the region as Japan shows signs of breaking away from its longstanding US-friendly foreign policy. "We consider the ROK to be a vital partner in such efforts," the US State Department's statement added.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/110107.html.