By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The controversial motion to extend the deployment of South Korean troops in Iraq was approved by the National Assembly, Friday.
The bill for the yearlong extension was passed with a vote of 146 for, 104 against and six abstentions.
Some legislators of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) voted for the motion, in defiance of party leaders' decision to cast ballots of ``strong opposition.''
As a result, the party leadership will likely face threats to its authority as well as internal unity amid a feud triggered by its defeat in the presidential election.
Under the motion, the Zaytun unit which means ``olive'' in Arabic, can stay in the war-torn Middle East country until Dec. 31, 2008. The number of troops has been halved to 650.
The UNDP has contended that the government should keep its promise to withdraw the troops in the Middle East country this month.
However, four UNDP lawmakers voted for the motion at an Assembly committee meeting Thursday. Only two lawmakers objected to it, while the remaining one UNDP legislator abstained.
In the Assembly session, about 40 to 50 UNDP lawmakers are presumed to have voted for the motion.
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) which has 128 seats in the 299-member unicameral legislature and the Democratic Party (DP) with six seats have supported the motion, saying that the extension is essential to strengthen ties with the United States.
Since 2004, the troops have carried out humanitarian and reconstruction operations in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil as the second largest coalition partner of the U.S.