S. Korea seeks to deploy weapon locater, robot in Afghanistan

SEOUL, Feb. 2 — South Korea is seeking to purchase an acoustic weapons locating system and a military robot to enhance the safety of its troops likely to be deployed to Afghanistan later this year, a defense official in Seoul said Tuesday.

The army robot and the hostile artillery locating system will track and protect troops from roadside bombs, or the so-called "improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," the official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. IEDs are known as the number one threat in Afghanistan.

"We are currently looking into models made in the United States or Europe, which will be sharper and of higher-quality than the devices that were deployed for our troops in Iraq," he said. "I cannot go into any more details for the safety of our troops."

The US currently operates IED-tracking and -eliminating robots Bobcat and Talon in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The South Korean government, in December, decided to send 320 troops, 40 police officers and 100 reconstruction team members to war-ravaged Afghanistan in July this year.

The government's motion, calling for their 29-month deployment, is awaiting parliamentary approval and is likely to pass with the ruling Grand National Party controlling a majority of 169 seats in the 298-member unicameral house.

South Korea withdrew its 200-strong team of medics and engineers from Afghanistan in 2007, ending several years of deployment under the US-led war against terrorism.

Since 2007, the number of IEDs in Afghanistan has jumped 350 percent, accounting for more than 70 percent of casualties there, according to recent US reports. (PNA/Yonhap)

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