Formation
The Republic of Korea dispatched a small contingent of 600 military medics and engineers (the 320th Medical Assistance 'Jema' Unit and the 1100th Construction Engineer 'Seoheui' Unit) to predominantly Shia areas in Southern Iraq in April 2003. The United States government asked South Korea to send additional forces on September 4, 2003. Upon request, Seoul formed the 'Zaytun' Division, which stresses the peace-keeping role of the troops (as zaytun means olive in Arabic). An additional 2,200 troops (mostly engineers) were deployed to Arbil in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Northern Iraq by early September 2004 and were converged with the humanitarian troops who were relocated from Southern Iraq. The combined unit consisted of 2,800 soldiers. Another 800 soldiers were dispatched to reinforce the existing troops in Arbil in November 2004, thus increasing the size of South Korea's contingent to 3,600.
Read more about this topic: Zaytun Division
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