Officials said Friday the South Korean government instructed its diplomatic missions overseas to strengthen security precautions against terrorism after it voiced support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

An official said that all our diplomatic missions were instructed to go on alert for possible terrorist attacks after our government expressed formal support for the Iraqi war.

He added that overseas embassies were also told to strengthen measures to protect Korean residents in their respective countries.

The government has also begun to assess what impact a change in the Middle East security and economic environment after the war would have on Korea.

The official added however in particular, the government has begun work to draw up a comprehensive set of measures to minimize the impact of the conflict on Korean businesses in the Middle East and to promote Korean firms' participation in future reconstruction projects in Iraq.

An official said we will also decide on the scale of economic and refugee-related contributions to be made by the Seoul government after considering the level of support given during the first Gulf War and the conflict in Afghanistan.