The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s parliament voted on Friday to extend the country's troop deployment in Iraq for a further year, amid protests by activists opposed to the decision.
The 298-member National Assembly approved the extension of the country's deployment of 650 troops by a vote of 146-104. Six lawmakers abstained and 42 lawmakers did not show up for the vote.
The ROK's President Roh Moo-hyun announced the extension plan in October, saying it would solidify the ROK's alliance with the US amid the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear standoff and boost economic interests in Iraq.
"We can't help paying attention to the DRPK's nuclear issue," Hwang Jin-ha, a member of the conservative opposition Grand National Party, told parliament before the vote. He said closer cooperation with the US is crucial as the DPRK threatened to slow its disabling of nuclear facilities due to delayed aid.
The ROK has stationed troops in Iraq for a reconstruction mission since 2003 at the request of Washington, which has 28,000 troops based in the ROK as deterrent against the DPRK.
In September, US President George W. Bush asked Roh to consider the extension at their summit meeting in Sydney, saying the ROK's contingent in Iraq has a high reputation for its expertise.
The South's troops level once stood at 3,600, making it the largest US coalition partner after Britain. However, the Seoul government has gradually brought soldiers home due to anti-deployment sentiments that peaked when Islamic insurgents beheaded a ROK civilian working in Iraq in 2004, amid militant demands for a troop withdrawal.
The ROK recently withdrew about 600 troops from Iraq, setting the current troop level at 650, according to the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul.
Liberal lawmakers criticized Roh - their former ideological ally who once pledged not to "kowtow" to the US - for taking part in an unjustified war.
"With endless guerrilla wars, Iraq is plunging into a swamp of war," said Lim Jong-seok, a member of the United New Democratic Party.
Earlier on Friday, dozens of anti-war activists staged a protest near the National Assembly in Seoul, calling on lawmakers to reject the extension plan.
"Zaytun, it's time to return home!" shouted the activists, referring to the contingent's code name, the Arabic word for "olive". There were reports of clashes.
If parliament had rejected the extension proposal, all the ROK soldiers would have been obligated to return home, said parliamentary official Oh Byung-hyuck.
Earlier this month, Seoul brought home 195 army medics and engineers from Afghanistan, ending its five-year deployment to help rebuild the war-ravaged country also at Washington's request.
Seoul wrapped up the troop deployment by the end of this year as planned but earlier this year reconfirmed the pledge to the Taliban to win the freedom of 21 civilians kidnapped in July after the insurgents killed two hostages.
Iraq may stop oil exports
Iraq's oil ministry has threatened to stop all crude exports to the ROK if that nation proceeds with a deal it signed with the semiautonomous Kurdistan regional government.
In early November, a consortium led by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp secured exploration rights from the Kurdish regional government for an oil field in the northern province.
The ROK consortium includes SK Energy, the ROK's biggest oil refiner, and GS Holdings Corp.
"The ministry has made it clear that no contracts should be signed until a new national oil law is passed," Assem Jiham, a ministry spokesman in Iraq told reporters on late Thursday.
"There was a clear warning to these companies that they will be blacklisted and excluded from any future cooperation with the ministry."
He added there would be "no leniency" shown to any company signs such contracts.
The Kurds have signed more than a dozen contracts with foreign oil companies, insisting Iraq's constitution gives them that authority.
But the Iraqi Oil Ministry insists the contracts are illegal and has threatened to blacklist foreign firms who sign them.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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