(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Dec. 19) - Mission fulfilled

Zaytun, a 520-strong Korean military unit which has completed its peacekeepingmission in Iraq, is returning home tomorrow. So is Daiman, the supportive 130-strong Air Force unit stationed in Kuwait. The troops belonging to the two units deserve a warm welcome from all Korean people.
Back in 2004, South Korea dispatched a contingent of 3,600 troops, the largest
since its participation in the Vietnam War, to the Kurdistan region of Iraq at
the request of its sole military ally, the United States. About 19,000 South
Korean troops have since served in Arbil, a northern Iraqi province, to help the
residents with job training and medical treatment.
South Korea decided to send troops as part of a multinational force maintaining
peace and stability in Iraq, even though the United States failed to win the U.N.
Security Council's endorsement for its invasion. The reason was simple: South
Korea is indebted to the United States, which, as a staunch ally, provides
security assurances against the threat of aggression from North Korea.
South Korea's pullout may be overdue, with some other countries having already
withdrawn their troops from the multinational force. There is no need for South
Korea to outstay their host's welcome, and all the more so, given that U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama is committed to withdrawing American troops from
Iraq in 2011.
During the past four years and three months, South Korea has extended Zaytun's
stay in Iraq four times, again at the request of the United States, though it has
reduced number of its troops to 520.
Zaytun's achievements are truly outstanding. In addition to treating 89,000
patients, it has given 23,000 Iraqis training on servicing automobiles, baking
and driving special-purpose vehicles and built a large number of public
buildings, including 68 schools and a multi-purpose library. No wonder South
Korea's contributions have elicited gratitude and respect from the local
residents.
These contributions are duly acknowledged by the United States as well. Robert
Wood, spokesman of the U.S. State Department, said recently, "The Republic of
Korea is our close friend and strong ally, and we deeply appreciate Korea's
contributions to Iraq's stabilization and reconstruction during the past four
years."
South Korea's pullout from Iraq, however, may not spell an end to its support for
the United States' war on terror, with the outgoing Bush administration calling
for noncombatant assistance in Afghanistan and Obama preparing to beef up the
U.S. military force in the country.
Additional support may be necessary. But South Korea will have to take time and
seriously consider what implications its support would have for Korean-U.S.
relations before making a final decision on how to help and when to start helping
the United States in Afghanistan.
The Bush administration is reportedly complaining about the absence of a response
from South Korea to its request to send a "provincial reconstruction team" and a
contingent of police instructors to train Afghan police officers. But a
compliance with the U.S. request is no easy matter for South Korea, which had to
withdraw 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan last year, months
after 23 South Korean church workers were taken hostage by the Taliban. Two were
killed before South Korea promised to withdraw the troops by the end of the year.

The dispatch of military medics and engineers, not to mention combatants, is
almost out of the question, given the Korean public's aversion to the idea of
sending men on active duty at the risk of Korean civilians being taken hostage
again. Nor is it necessary to hasten a decision on the dispatch of personnel to
Afghanistan. It should not be too late to make a decision after consulting with
the incoming Obama administration.
(END)