A visiting South Korean opposition lawmaker said Wednesday that the United States has asked South Korea to command a division-level multinational force in Iraq.

Rep. Park Jin, the spokesman for South Korea's Grand National Party, quoted U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless as telling GNP Chairman Choe Byung-yul that "On the size of the troop dispatch, we've asked South Korea to lead a division-level multinational unit, with South Korea assuming its command."

The U.S. official was also quoted as saying that such a move would allow South Korea to have experience in managing the Polish style multinational division in areas of conflict.

According to Park, Lawless dismissed as "completely irrelevant" a recent report suggesting the United States would withdraw its Second Infantry Division from South Korea if the South fails to agree to dispatch combat troops to Iraq.

Park quoted the U.S. official as saying "Any decision on the issue should ultimately be made by South Korea, which is a sovereign state."