South Korea announced plans Friday to send troops to Afghanistan to protect its civilian aid workers, two years after withdrawing its forces following a fatal hostage crisis.
The South Korean government intends to expand a reconstruction team now helping to rebuild Afghanistan and will dispatch police and troops to protect them, Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
The decision to dispatch troops is subject to approval in parliament, where the ruling Grand National Party has enough seats to guarantee passage.
The announcement comes about two years after South Korea withdrew some 200 army medics and engineers from Afghanistan. The pullout, though previously planned, followed a hostage standoff in which the Taliban killed two South Koreans after demanding that Seoul immediately withdraw its troops.
Moon stressed that the troops would not take part in combat operations.
“Our security troops will not take part in any battle other than” defending aid workers, he said.
The spokesman did not say how many troops will be sent or when, or how many more aid workers would be added to the current team of 25.
