Possible Zaytun Unit Troop Cut & Video

Lawmakers in Korea are currently debating whether or not to scale back the ROK Army troops currently serving in Irbil, Iraq:

Korea is likely to pull about one-third of its 3,260 troops out of Iraq early next year. A Defense Ministry official said Minister Yoon Kwang-ung instructed officials to study reducing the country’s Zaytun Division stationed on a peace-building mission in Iraq now that a referendum on the country’s new constitution ended in a yes-vote.

“We will first bring back 1,000 men from Iraq early next year and then decide on additionally reducing a portion of the forces around next June based on our assessment of the political situation in Iraq at that time,” a senior government official said. However, he hinted that a bill now before the National Assembly to extend the Zaytun troops’ mandate will pass, saying the government was not considering a complete withdrawal of troops.

I think this is great because the amount of soldiers Korea has in Iraq is far greater then what is needed when compared to the actual “reconstruction” that is being done. The Japanese SDF in Iraq keep 550 soldiers to do their reconstruction work which should be about the number that Korea should keep in Irbil if the plan to continue the same level of aid.

For an interesting look at the aid the Zaytun unit is providing here is a link with video showing the Zaytun unit in action.

The video shows the soldiers providing medical care to the citizens in Irbil, giving new buses to the Irbil government, and a civil affairs team that goes around the country side spreading good will. The team sets up a tent for children to watch Korean animation, gives kids hair cuts, field hospital services, puts on a Tae Kwon Do show, traditional Korean dancing, and even brings out the Mogey Man for the Kurdish kids to play in the spray on insecticide! It doesn’t get much more Korean than that.

However, the video made no reference to Korea’s greatest reconstruction project the donation of Korean toilets.

The biggest problem I got with Korea’s deployment is that they are trying to win over people that are already won over a long time ago. The Kurds are extremely pro-American and I’m sure they are pro-Korean as well. If the Korean government really wanted to provide meaningful reconstruction head down the road to Kirkuk and help out there. Kirkuk is relatively safe, no where near as safe as Irbil but needs more reconstruction assistance than the Kurdish capitol.