S. Korea mulls Afghan force

SEOUL, June 21 (UPI) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told political leaders Saturday he discussed with U.S. President Barack Obama sending Korean troops to Afghanistan.

Lee, who returned Thursday from a three-day visit to Washington, said South Korea could send a peacekeeping force but cannot provide combat troops, Yonhap, the state news agency, reported, citing a spokeswoman for the small Liberty Forward Party. South Korea pulled its force of 200 medical workers and engineers from Afghanistan in 2007.

The president met with Park Hee-tae, leader of the ruling Grand National Party, Park Hee-tae, and Rep. Lee Hoi-chang of Liberty Forward.

In addition to his meeting with Obama, Lee discussed the North Korean nuclear threat with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Lee said the transfer of wartime operational control of the South Korean military to its own government can be delayed if the situation on the peninsula gets worse but cannot be stopped.

The two Koreas are still technically at war since a peace treaty has never been signed.