YONHAP NEWS

Clinton calls Minister Yu on S. Korea's contribution to Afghanistan: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had phone conversations with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and her counterparts from several other countries last week to seek support for the war on terror in Afghanistan, the State Department said Monday.

   The phone calls aim to complement a flurry of summit diplomacy by U.S. President Barack Obama, either in person or through phone calls, seeking an enhanced military presence by U.S. allies in the war-torn Central Asian state.

   "I think she talked about the need for mostly coordinating our efforts," spokesman Ian Kelly said. "I'm just not going to get into about numbers or increases or anything like that. A number of these calls were specifically to talk to our partners who are involved in the effort in Afghanistan and to give them not the specifics of the president's strategy because, of course, that's being rolled out tomorrow, but to talk in general outlines about the president's strategy going forward in Afghanistan.

   Among the ministers Clinton contacted are those from France, Poland, Canada, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Germany, the United Kingdom and Denmark, which maintain troops in Afghanistan, the spokesman said.

   While in Seoul earlier this month, Obama thanked South Korean President Lee Myung-bak for Seoul's plans to send a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to Afghanistan, aside from its 25-member medical team already there.

   The Seoul government has said it was considering sending a 130-strong PRT, accompanied by about 300 troops for their protection.

   The British government said Monday that it will soon send an additional 500 troops to Afghanistan to bring the number of British troops there to over 10,000. NATO says it will soon send another 5,000 troops.

   Obama will make a long-awaited announcement Tuesday on a major increase in troop strength in Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is gaining power despite the presence of more than 100,000 multinational forces led by about 70,000 American troops.

   Even though a majority of Americans oppose sending more forces, Obama is expected to announce an increase of more than 30,000 American troops in Afghanistan, short of the 40,000 demanded by U.S. military commanders.

   South Korea withdrew more than 200 military medics and engineers from Afghanistan in 2007 after 23 South Korean Christian missionaries were held captive. Two of them were killed and the rest released after the Seoul government pledged to withdraw the troops by the end of that year.

   Yu, South Korea's top diplomat, has said that increased aid to Afghanistan by South Korea is linked to the stable deployment of 28,500 U.S. troops in the Korean Peninsula, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

   Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month urged South Korea to enhance its contributions to Afghanistan.

   "I see a different dynamic and logic to Korea's international military role today," Gates said. "In the past, deployments were considered something that Korea was doing for the United States. Going forward, Korea's international military contributions should be seen as what they are: something that is done to benefit your own security and vital national interests."

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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