Zaytun Division: Difference between revisions

The Republic of Korea dispatched a small contingent of 600 military medics and engineers (the 320th Medical Assistance 'Jema' Unit and the 1100th Construction Engineer 'Seoheui' Unit) to predominantly Shia areas in Southern Iraq in April 2003.<ref>[http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200602/200602240023.html Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The [[United States]] government asked South Korea to send additional forces on September 4, 2003.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zaytun.mil.kr/intro/intro_3.htm|title=부대 연혁|work=Zaytun Div. website|accessdate=2006-04-29}}</ref> Upon request, Seoul formed the Division 'Zaytun' ([[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] of the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word '{{lang|ar|زيتون}}', '[[olive]]') which stressed the peace-keeping role of the troops. An additional 2,200 troops (mostly engineers) were deployed to [[Arbil]] in the [[Kurdish Autonomous Region]] of Northern Iraq by early September 2004 and were converged with the humanitarian troops who were relocated from Southern Iraq. The combined unit consisted of 2,800 soldiers.<ref>[http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200411/200411070003.html Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Daily News in English About Korea<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Another 800 soldiers were dispatched to reinforce the existing troops in Arbil in November 2004, thus increasing the size of South Korea's contingent to 3,600.<ref>[http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041002/news_1n2develop.html Daily developments | The San Diego Union-Tribune<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>