South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said on Friday it would take time to reach a decision on whether to agree to a US request to send combat troops to Iraq because he needed to sound out public opinion thoroughly.

He told Reuters in an interview ahead of a Pacific Rim summit at which he will meet US President George W. Bush, the request had sparked serious controversy in South Korea.

Asked whether Roh could say "no" to Bush given the South's military alliance with the United States, he replied" "Your question forces me to give you a very clear-cut answer on the issue that has been haunting me for days and days. So I don't think I can give a clear-cut answer to that."

The United States asked South Korea last month to send the combat troops to help stabilise post-war Iraq. South Korean media have said Washington wants Seoul to commit to sending about 5,000 troops by the end of this month. Washington has not said where it wants the force deployed.

Roh's National Security Council will hold a special meeting on the request on Saturday, ahead of Roh's departure to the summit on Sunday.

Roh said it was vital to take thorough soundings on the public's view -- latest opinion polls suggest a majority would support sending troops with UN backing.

"There is a very serious controversy over whether dispatching troops is right or wrong in (South) Korea, but in dispatching Korean soldiers to Iraq then I think the most important factor that should be considered is the intention and the willingness of the Korean people," he said.

"And to be honest with you my political standing is not so strong that I can just say outloud what my conviction is without asking public opinion."

RETAIN WIGGLE ROOM

He was referring to his call on Monday for a December referendum on his rule because of flagging popularity and a political funding scandal involving a former aide.

Roh advisers have made conflicting statements on the impact of the political turmoil on the Iraq decision.

In a diplomatic coup for the United States, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday aimed at getting multinational troops and cash for Iraq.

Roh declined to say whether he would be able to give a definitive answer to Bush when they meet in Bangkok next week at the APEC summit of Pacific Rim leaders.

"I think it is best for us to retain some room for ambiguity on that question," Roh said.

Roh faces a tough political decision in which he must weigh strong public opposition to the Iraq war against Seoul's desire to shore up its military alliance with Washington.

Although many South Koreans opposed the Iraq war, an opinion poll released on Thursday, before the UN vote, showed more than 70 percent of the 1,000 surveyed supported sending troops with UN backing. But a separate online poll of 4,296 people showed only 37 percent backed the idea.

In a rare public show of support for US policy, more than 10,000 South Koreans rallied in central Seoul on Wednesday urging the government to send combat troops. The mostly older veterans and conservatives also burned copies of the North Korean flag.

Earlier in the day, representatives of more than 350 civic groups opposed to sending combat troops lobbied parliamentarians to reject the US request. More than 1,000 activists marched in Seoul last weekend against the dispatch.

South Korea has had about 700 medical and engineering troops working out of a US base in the Iraqi town of Nassariya since May without incident.

Replacements flew out of Songnam military airport near Seoul early on Wednesday, the first of two batches totalling 466 troops being rotated into Iraq.

A South Korean fact-finding team sent to Iraq to study security said on its return last week the picture was mixed, but better than depicted in the media. It did not commit itself on whether combat troops should go.

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