CINA

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AP (news agency) wrote y'day (11.2): S. Korea May Extend Iraq Troop Deployment South Korea's defense minister said Wednesday that his ministry would ask parliament to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq for another year. ``We plan to submit the bill to the National Assembly within this month,'' Yoon Kwang-ung told reporters, according to his ministry. South Korea has deployed 3,200 troops in northern Iraq to help U.S.-led efforts to rebuild the country, making Seoul the largest U.S. coalition partner in Iraq after Britain. The troop deployment is unpopular among South Koreans due mainly to security concerns. In June 2004, Islamic insurgents in Iraq beheaded a South Korean civilian working in Iraq after South Korea rejected demands to withdraw its troops. The South Korean government believes the deployment will help strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance, also helping resolve the dispute over North Korea's nuclear arms program. In December 2004, the South Korean parliament approved a government request to extend the troop deployment in Iraq for another year. The term of the current deployment is set to expire at the end of 2005.