South Korea yesterday revealed plans to withdraw about a third of its 3,200 troops from Iraq, an embarrassing diplomatic blow to President George W. Bush only a day after he thanked Roh Moo-hyun, his South Korean counterpart, for helping "democracy flourish" in the Middle East.

As the two leaders attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in the South Korean port city of Busan, the South's defence ministry confirmed that a bill on the troop deployment would be submitted to the national assembly next week.