SEOUL, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- South Korea has received a request to deploy peacekeeping troops to a volatile area of southern Lebanon, near the city of Tyre.
The Korea Herald said the request was made in Lebanon to a visiting South Korean delegation by U.N. officials and Italian peacekeeping forces, who are already in the area.
The U.N. force, led by France, was deployed to Lebanon last year in the wake of fighting between the militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
The newspaper said Friday South Korea had made no decision on the request yet, which would lead to South Korean peacekeepers guarding a U.N. logistics base as well as manning checkpoints and supervising U.N. convoys in the area.
South Korea has pledged 350 troops to the international mission. They are expected to leave for Lebanon in March or April.
The Korean delegation was in Lebanon on a pre-deployment fact-finding mission, the newspaper said.
