SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea has decided to bring home almost half of its troops in Iraq while extending their overall deployment for another year, a news report said Friday.

Seoul plans to withdraw 1,100 troops out of 2,300-member contingent in the northern Iraq city of Irbil by early next year, said Yonhap news agency said, citing a government official it didn't identify by name.
South Korean officials at the Foreign Ministry and National Security Council were not immediately available for confirmation.

The reported move came a day after South Korea's ruling Uri Party said it will endorse the government's bid to keep the country's troops in Iraq for another year in return for a timetable for withdrawal.
South Korea sent almost 3,600 troops to Iraq in 2004 to support U.S.-led actions there, but has been gradually reducing their presence.

Seoul's current contribution of 2,300 troops makes it Washington's second-biggest coalition partner after Britain. The contingent's mission was to expire at the end of this year, but the Defense Ministry plans to submit a proposal to parliament to keep them there until the end of 2007.

The deployment is unpopular among South Koreans, mainly due to security concerns. In June 2004, Islamic insurgents beheaded a South Korean civilian working in Iraq after Seoul rejected demands to withdraw its troops.