By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter

South Korea is planning to send a high-level delegation to 15 Middle Eastern nations to soften their opposition to a planned Korean troop dispatch to Iraq under U.S.-led rehabilitation efforts.

``Our mission will be to explain to them that our troops are intended for peaceful purposes, with the focus on offering a helping hand for rehabilitation in the war-devastated nation,’’ a Chong Wa Dae official said on Wednesday.

The government is also set to invite ranking government officials and opinion leaders of the Arab countries from various sectors like business, culture and academia. At the non-governmental level, the Korea-Middle East Forum will soon be held in Egypt to discuss ways of strengthening ties between the two sides.

``The forum will be developed into an annual academic conference,’’ the official said, adding that it will be attended by various prominent people.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency, which is affiliated with the Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry, will also expand assistance projects to the Middle Eastern nations by inviting trainees, sending experts and providing materials.

As part of efforts to help set up the new government in Iraq, the government will dispatch relevant experts, invite Iraqi officials for training and offer education and equipment for the Iraqi military and police to help raise their capability to maintain order and security.

The government has pledged to provide a total of $200 million by July 2004 to facilitate the rehabilitation in Iraq.

Chong Wa Dae said the relevant projects will be implemented in concert with the dispatch of troops to Iraq, with missions assigned to related ministries like Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry and Defense Ministry.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr