South Korea will send a military delegation to the northern Iraqi town of Irbil this month to make its final arrangements for the deployment of its 3,600 troops in the Kurdish-controlled region, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

South Korea has "virtually" decided to station its troops in Irbil but has yet to choose specific deployment sites, said Brig. Gen. Nam Dae-yeon, the South Korean Defense Ministry's spokesman.

"We strongly consider Irbil as a deployment site," Nam said at a daily press briefing. "But we will officially announce the site,the required procedure and schedule for the deployment based on the delegation's findings and additional consultations with the United States."

Another northern Iraqi town of Sulaimaniya was also considered as a candidate site but South Korean officials have favored Irbil as it has better airport and road systems.

However, the military officer acknowledged that the additional troop dispatch may be delayed from June to July or even August.

South Korea originally had planned to deploy its troops in the oil-rich town of Kirkuk in northern Iraq under an independent operational command.

But Seoul changed the deployment region after US demanded for "joint offensive operations" in Kirkuk. South Korea insisted on its commitment of rehabilitation operations.

Earlier this week, South Korea received a letter from Kurdish leaders in Irbil that they welcome South Korea's troop deployment and want to hold talks with South Korean officials to work out details, Nam said.

"We are still discussing with Kurdish government officials. Thetroop dispatch is a cautious matter, given the safety of our troops." Nam said.

The South Korean selection of a deployment site in Iraq has also been delayed amid mounting anti-war sentiments among its people over the controversial abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers.

The troop dispatch plan is unpopular among South Koreans. Some say the dispatch will solidify the half-century Seoul-Washington alliance, while others argue the US-led war is unjustified and show concerns about possible South Korean deaths.

South Korea has already dispatched three separate batches of hundreds of army engineers and medics to southern Iraq.

In last month's parliamentary general election, the Uri Party won the majority seats in the incoming 17th National Assembly, which will officially start its session in June.

Most of the elected-lawmakers of the party hold it need reconsideration of the Iraq troop dispatch plan, according to local media reports.

But the government expressed several times it will stick to the additional troop dispatch promise, for it is a commitment to the international community. The outgoing 16th National Assembly approved the government troop dispatch plan in February.

Source: Xinhua