South Korea plans to withdraw one-third of its troops from Iraq early next year, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

At a policy consultation meeting, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung presented the troop pullout plan to the ruling Uri Partyon Friday, the ministry said.

Under the plan, about 1,000 soldiers, accounting for one-third of a contingent of 3,260 South Korean troops stationed in northern Iraq, will be brought home, the ministry said.

South Korea has the third largest military presence in Iraq after the United States and Britain.

But the ministry also proposed to extend the deployment of its troops, dispatched to the war-stricken Iraq in 2003, until next year.

South Koreans have been sharply divided over sending troops to Iraq. There are also mounting fears of possible terror attacks as extremist groups have threatened to attack South Koreans unless they withdraw their troops.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2005)