SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said that whether to provide aid to Afghanistan is the South Korean government's decision to make.

    Gates met with his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-young earlier in the day at the 41st Security Consultative Meeting (SCM)between the two nations.

    "That decision is entirely up to the government of the Republic of Korea," Gates told a news conference held after the SCM, saying that his country has not made any specific request to Seoul on the issue.

    However, he said Afghanistan currently is in need of a wide range of assistance, noting that economic assistance is needed to support Afghanistan's police and military, and also to help the country's economic reconstruction and civilian projects.

    He said that any aid from any country for the war-torn Central Asia nation is welcomed, but the date and the scope of assistance that Seoul might provide is entirely up to the South Korean government.

    Gates on Wednesday urged South Korea to assume a bigger military role in the international issues for the sake of its own security and vital interests.

    While speaking to about 150 U.S. and South Korean soldiers at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, he urged South Korea's political leaders to invest more in defense at a level "appropriate to" the nation's "emerging role as a contributor to global security and commensurate with the threat" it faces on the Korean Peninsula.

    Local media noted that it is the first time Gates has mentioned Seoul's international military contributions, and believed that the U.S. official's remark is to encourage South Korea to dispatch troops to participate in U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.