Seoul, Dec 01: South Korea will keep its word to send more troops to Iraq despite an attack that left two South Korean civilians dead in the war-torn country, Foreign Minister Yoon Young-Kwan said today. "This case will not affect the issue of sending troops to Iraq. There has been no change in our policy on the troop dispatch," Yoon told a news conference here. Two South Koreans were killed and two seriously wounded when their vehicle was ambushed near the Iraqi town of Tikrit yesterday. Yoon, who attended an emergency meeting of president Roh Moo-Hyun's National Security Council earlier today, said that US President George W. Bush had sent a telegram of condolences following the killings and he had also received a personal call from US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The dead were identified as Kim Man-Soo, 46, and Kwak Kyung-Hae, 61. All four were civilians who worked for Omu Electric Co., a South Korean electrical company on a contract for the US military.

The first South Korean deaths in Iraq have come as Roh debates a US request for the additional dispatch of thousands of ground troops for stabilisation efforts in Iraq.

Last month Roh said he would consider sending around 3,000 troops, mostly non-combatants, far fewer than the United States requested.

The US request has split public opinion and triggered pro- and anti-troop dispatch demonstrations.

Bureau Report