Driven in part by large financial bonuses, about 18,000 South Korean soldiers have volunteered for a mission to help the U.S.-led coalition rebuild Iraq, a military official said Thursday. South Korea has plans to send as many as 3,000 troops to Iraq as early as April in a mission making South Korea the biggest coalition partner after the United States and Britain. Parliament must still approve the dispatch, but all major parties have said they would support it and the military is already preparing by soliciting volunteers and training soldiers as Arabic translators. On Thursday, the military said 18,000 soldiers have already applied for service and that more applicants were expected before Tuesday’s deadline. Volunteers will be winnowed after parliament approves the dispatch. "I think soldiers want to build experience abroad, and especially among young soldiers, there is a willingness to experience something new," army spokesman Col. Ha Doo-chul said.
Ha added that the high salary for Iraq duty is also a motivating factor. A sergeant sent to Iraq can expect monthly pay of $1,100, compared to the $15 he would make back home under mandatory military service.
That would motivate me.
The new dispatch of 3,000 troops to the northern Iraqi oil town of Kirkuk is to include special forces and combat-ready marines. It would come in addition to 460 South Korean military medics and engineers already operating in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. |