S. Korea Rebuffs Clinton on Somalia : Military: Seoul’s refusal to send combat troops to African nation marks America’s declining influence with allies.

In a new demonstration of America’s declining influence with its allies, South Korea recently rejected a request by President Clinton to send a unit of combat troops to Somalia, Han Seung Soo, the South Korean ambassador to Washington, confirmed Friday.

The President apparently had sought the South Korean troops as part of his effort to stabilize the situation in Somalia while keeping his promise to withdraw American forces by the end of March.

Clinton made his appeal for help in a letter Oct. 8 to South Korean President Kim Young Sam. Early this week, the South Korean government--which already has an engineering unit working with U.N. peacekeeping forces in Somalia--informed the U.S. Embassy in Seoul that it would not go along with the American request.

“Because of public opinion in Korea and opposition in the National Assembly, it is difficult for us to send combat troops,” the South Korean ambassador explained Friday. “We hope to increase our participation in U.N. peacekeeping, but at the moment, sending combat troops is very difficult.”

The response was the latest in a series of setbacks for U.S. officials abroad. Last spring, the Clinton Administration tried to persuade Britain, France and other European allies to take stronger action in preventing Serbian aggression in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But the Administration was forced to back off after Secretary of State Warren Christopher was told on a trip to Europe that America’s allies would not support the proposal.

The United States also asked Germany and other countries for greater financial contributions to Russia than they were willing to make. And the United States has failed to persuade countries such as Japan and France to support the American effort to avoid economic ties with Iran.

Seoul’s response is quite a change from the days of the Korean and Vietnam wars, when South Korean forces fought side by side with Americans.

In a sign of the times, one South Korean publication noted last week: “The Somali situation cannot be compared with the Vietnamese situation. Our country enjoyed a special economic boom by earning dollars and receiving construction orders in return for shedding blood there (in Vietnam). What profits can our country gain by getting involved in the Somali situation?”

It is not clear how many other nations besides South Korea have been asked by Clinton to contribute new troops to Somalia. One Administration official said Friday that he believes the President has asked several countries with personnel there to increase their forces.

“I think the message is, ‘Since you’ve already helped out, would you like to do a little more?’ ” this official said.

The 250-member engineering unit that South Korea sent to Somalia is Seoul’s first contribution to U.N. peacekeeping operations. Over the last two weeks, South Korean politicians and newspapers made clear that they were not prepared to support the dispatch of combat units.

South Korea thus occupies about the same position as Japan, which recently contributed troops for support duties but not for combat missions in U.N. peacekeeping operations in Cambodia.

In an editorial opposing Clinton’s request, the South Korean newspaper Joong-ang Ilbo noted that several European countries are preparing to withdraw forces from Somalia.

“The countries considering withdrawing their troops are mostly the countries . . . which have an experience of operating colonies in Africa and near Somalia,” the newspaper said. “Therefore, these (European) countries are well aware of the situation and the strategic value of this region, having far more interest than we do in this region. . . . Somalia is not a country of crucial importance from (South Korea’s) strategic and security point of view.”

South Korea is one of only three countries Clinton has visited as President. He traveled to Seoul for a two-day visit last summer after attending the summit of seven leading industrial nations in Tokyo. On Friday, the White House announced that President Kim will visit Washington on Nov. 23.

Also Friday, House Republicans asked for an investigation into whether the CIA reported that there was a serious threat to U.S. troops in Somalia before 18 Americans died in a firefight.

House Republican Whip Newt Gingrich and five colleagues asked Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to determine if the CIA had filed a report foretelling the deadly Oct. 3 battle in Mogadishu.