The Ministry of Defense is keeping a low profile on the activities of the Zaitun Unit in an apparent effort not to get in the way of efforts to free a South Korean hostage in Iraq.

On Tuesday, the ministry called off a troop dispatch briefing event organized for the lawmakers of the ruling Uri party at the Zaitun Unit's training camp in South Korea.

A day earlier, the ministry also cancelled planned media coverage of the unit's training session.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Jema Unit, engaged in humanitarian efforts in Iraq's southern city of Nasiriyah, had halted medical services for local civilians. The ministry said their operations were suspended temporarily due to security considerations, not to protest the kidnapping of the South Korean as reported in some foreign media.