South Korea is considering sending 3,000 troops to secure a specific part of Iraq and has ruled out deploying non-combat troops alone, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

Goh Kun also told the European Union Chamber of Commerce that Seoul had no differences with the United States, which requested 5,000 combat soldiers to help bolster security in post-war Iraq.

The Prime Minister said Seoul had faced a choice between sending troops to help rebuild the battered country and sending a contingent with a security mission.

?The first option was ruled out due to the United States? request and the situation in Iraq,? he said.

?The other plan is what the government is discussing with the US government. South Korea would send 3,000 troops and would take on a mission to secure the security of a certain area in Iraq.?

South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun is close to a politically delicate final decision on what mix of troops to send. Local media have said Seoul is leaning toward sending 3,000 troops in February or March.

Goh?s comments were the most direct so far from a South Korean leader, but he said the government had to hear from a second fact-finding team sent to Iraq before deciding. It was unclear which area a South Korean force would be asked to patrol.

Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan told a separate briefing the second team was returning to Seoul later yesterday.

South Korea has had 675 medical and engineering troops deployed in Iraq since May. Public opposition to sending troops to the region has grown since a string of attacks on foreign forces serving there.