SEOUL, April 28 (UPI) -- South Korea will stand by its commitment to send more troops to Iraq despite calls from some elected lawmakers, the Korea Times reported Wednesday.
"The troop dispatch motion was approved by the National Assembly with support from a large number of lawmakers," Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon said. "The government will follow up on it and send troops as planned."
On top of the 600 medics and engineers already there, the Korean government plans to send 3,000 more soldiers to the war-battered country to help peace and reconstruction efforts.
The additional forces were originally meant to be deployed in the northern town of Kirkuk by late April, but the plan was delayed due to the worsening security situation there. Korea wants its soldiers "not to be engaged in any offensive operations."
Anti-war sentiments gained further voice with the election of a large number of progressive lawmakers in the April 15 general elections. The Democratic Labor Party pledged to push for a motion in the incoming Assembly that would scrap troop deployment plans.
