By Seo Soo-min
Staff Reporter

The South Korean Embassy in Iraq obtained intelligence that South Koreans may become targets of terror attacks, according to reports.

``There is intelligence information that Hezbollah, along with Iraqi insurgents, are planning large-scale attacks on southern areas of the country where South Korean army medics and engineers are operating,’’ an official at the South Korean Embassy in Baghdad was quoted by the Yonhap News Agency as saying.

The attacks may be part of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks the insurgents may be planning on U.S. and other foreign targets during the holiday season, he said.

The embassy in Baghdad, which was planning to move into a new, separate building by the year’s end, has shelved the schedule for the time being. The embassy is currently housed in the Palestine Hotel for security reasons.

However, Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry officials in Seoul said the government already is taking no chances when it comes to security in Iraq but denied the report that terrorists were planning attacks against South Koreans.

``To our knowledge, none of our staff at the embassy in Baghdad obtained any information that terrorist attacks may also be targeted at Korea-related facilities,’’ said a ministry official.

Regarding Seoul’s dispatch of 3,000 more soldiers to Iraq next spring, they said the Kirkuk region now being tapped as a likely destination is a relatively safe one.

``Of course safety is a relative term, but the region has a large Kurdish population (suppressed by Saddam Hussein) and a history of autonomy,’’ the official added.

ssm@koreatimes.co.kr