Dispatch to Afghanistan

The government announced that to help the rehabilitation of Afghanistan society they decided to operate independent provincial reconstruction team (PRT) and deploy the troop consisting of police and army. Mun Tae-young, spokesman at the ministry of foreign affairs and trade, prevailed that to participate actively in the stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan the government decided to install enlarged PRT in Afghanistan. Also, he reported that as other countries’ PRT self-defense forces for protection of our manpower and facilities and the proper number of police officers and army forces are planned to send to afghan, according to the process of domestic law including a parliament consensus. The main purpose of PRT is to support the overall reconstruction businesses including strengthening capacities of a state administration, setting infrastructure and providing humanitarian aid in a state. It means the government is going to manipulate independent PRT separate from 25 members involved in medical services and vocational programs in Bagram Air Base in Kabul as members of the Provincial Reconstruction Team.

The Size of Dispatch

However, the government has yet to decide how big the dispatch scale is. The administration only revealed the scale of PRT in which at least 130 civil affairs specialists will be included. The government has a plan to send a Korean interagency fact-finding team to afghan in early November after a council of relevant ministries. It is the government position that the size of dispatch could be decided after an interagency team chooses a place where PRT will be installed by consulting with Afghanistan government and NATO because it would be clear what kind of assistance is needed and how bad its public security is.

When?

Korean troops will be dispatched in the middle of the next year. As other countries’ precedents it will take about 4 to 6 months to prepare for PRT installment after a council with NATO and rent a place from Afghan government. It is anticipated that troops will be dispatched around in February and March, at latest by April or May, if the government’s on-site inspection team goes to Afghan next month and the preparation for the dispatch is conducted properly.
Also, it takes time for the domestic procedure, such as a parliament consensus. When it comes to the area to dispatch, among 34 states they are considering only three states that are out of PRT; however, if those areas are not suitable to dispatch, the government seems to take over an area that has been ruled by another country.

Background of dispatch

As the government made a conclusion to install PRT and dispatch troops to Afghan, sending troops is in two years after 2007, when military engineers and medics are completely withdrawn from Afghanistan. It seems that to change the government position that there is going to be no more dispatch because of threats of terror two years ago is owing to a consideration of contribution to international society and strengthening of the ties between South Korea and the U.S. It is true that Korea has its international responsibility commensurate to its enhanced status in terms of national capacity for instance, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Gi-moon and G20 submit to be held in Korea in next year.
Also, Korean government must consider the tough position of the U.S that faces the most difficult matter of Afghanistan. An argument that to dispatch to Afghan is inevitable because the regime should prevent the U.S from redeploying the troops in Korea to the urgent country came from a section of political circles.

Possibility of a terror and protection of Korean abroad

However, to operate independent PRT could cause a battle and is be target of terrorism in that it means taking responsibility of public security. In particular, in Afghan as well as overall Middle East the possibility that Koreans would be a target of terrorist obviously has risen. In the former presidency, to help Afghan and Iraq reconstruct Korean government dispatched non-combat troops, but Koreans were a consecutive target. In addition in August, 2007, 21 South Korean Christian missionaries safely came back to Korea after two victims out of 23 kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, promising that Korean troops will be withdrawn within that year.
Some people point out that it is meaningless to classify combat troops and non-combat troops because the Taliban regards Korean forces as an army helping the U.s army. Moreover, the situation of Afghan now is worse than before, controlling by Taliban more that 80% of the country.