Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yoon Young-kwan said Thursday South Korea will send a charter plane to the Gulf to fly Koreans out of the region should an urgent evacuation be required due to the impending war in Iraq.

He said the government also plans to send non-combat forces to join the U.S.-led campaign against Iraq under the spirit of the bilateral alliance.

He said at a meeting with ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) leaders that the charter flight will be a 240-seater A300 and will cost $253,000 dollars.

Yoon said of the 1,156 Koreans in Iraq, Israel and Kuwait, 869 had been evacuated to safe areas as of Wednesday. South Korean missions are looking to secure a land route to safety for the remaining 287 people.