By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter
The government said on Monday that the recent killing of two South Korean workers in Iraq would not change its decision to send troops to the war-devastated Middle East nation.

``The government’s position for the troop dispatch will not be changed due to the recent incident,’’ Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Yoon Young-kwan said during a press conference.

Emerging from an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) at Chong Wa Dae, Yoon said relevant ministries will press forward with consultation regarding the type and timing of the troop dispatch based on President Roh Moo-hyun’s earlier guideline of sending 3,000 troops to Iraq.

He said the government would continue dialogue with the United States in relation to the details of the troop dispatch.

``We will also take the recent incident into account in the process of discussing the matter but the early stance for the dispatch won’t be changed at all,’’ he said. Earlier in the day, President Roh condemned the terror attacks and vowed not to bow to such an inhumane act. ``It was an attack not against soldiers or public facilities but against civilians,’’ he said during his meeting with top aides. ``It should not be tolerated.’’

His national security advisor Ra Jong-yil said the government would not link the killings of Koreans to the troop dispatch.

``We strongly denounce such behavior and urge the interim governing body of Iraq to take steps to prevent the recurrence of such a tragic incident,’’ according to the statement.

Yoon vowed the government would not succumb to any kind of violence and would press ahead with humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation work despite the recent incident.

The government dispatched minister Son Se-joo at the Korean embassy in Baghdad to the accident site in Tikrit to determine precise details of the incident.

Yoon said one of the two injured workers was wounded seriously but was not in a critical condition.

He called on company officials and emissaries active in Iraq to leave the nation immediately but said the withdrawal of employees from U.S. forces installations and those of its allies should be weighed carefully given the need to continue the reconstruction projects.

Concerning whether the attacks on the Koreans were intended or not, Yoon said the ministry has yet to confirm.

``We don’t know about the intention of the attack or whether the terrorists were aware that the victims were Koreans or not. It also remains uncertain which organization launched the offensive. We are conducting additional investigations over the matter,’’ he added.

jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr