The deployment will be reinforced by another 800 troops in early November, defense officials said.

The South Korean contingent, the third largest in the US-led coalition in Iraq, is taking up positions in Arbil, a Kurdish-controlled town in the north of Iraq, to operate from next month, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry announcement followed a tough media blackout on the troop deployment which began with a secret airlift on August 3, preceded by protest rallies by South Korean anti-war activists.

Seoul had defended the ban on media access, citing the security of South Korean forces and civilians in Iraq, since the execution of one South Korean translator by Islamic militants there in June.

Islamic abductors beheaded the translator Kim Sun-Il after President Roh Moo-Hyun rejected their demand that Seoul cancel its plan to send troops to Iraq.

South Korea's parliament approved the dispatch of troops in February but stipulated that troops would engage in relief and reconstruction work only and would avoid combat.

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