The Hammer
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Ullungdo 37.5 N, 130.9 E, altitude : 223 m
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 Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:39 am Post subject: US South Korea wartime control 2009 |
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US wants South Korea to take wartime control in 2009
SEOUL (AFP) - US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has suggested that South Korea take wartime control of its troops in the next three years, the defense ministry here said.
Rumsfeld sent a letter to South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung, insisting that the transfer of wartime command take place in 2009 -- three years earlier than wanted by Seoul, defense officials said.
"Nothing has been decided yet on when to transfer the wartime operational rights," the ministry said in a statement, adding that a final decision will be made following US-South Korean talks in October.
South Korea has preferred 2012 as a target year for the transfer, citing a need for more time to prepare for the major change in the five-decade alliance.
Under a mutual defense treaty, South Korean troops would come under the operational control of the commander of US forces in South Korea, who leads the combined forces command, during times of conflict.
The US wartime operational rights have been the backbone of bilateral security ties since 1950 when US troops deployed to the Korean peninsula to repel North Korean invaders from South Korea.
Some 32,500 US soldiers are stationed at present in Seoul to help 650,000 South Korean military troops face up to North Korea's 1.2 million-strong army.
The United States and South Korea have held talks on readjusting their traditional military alliance amid increasing calls from South Korea to have independent control of its military.
The United States also plans to reduce its forces in South Korea to 25,000 by 2008 and is seeking flexibility to deploy them elsewhere in times of need.
In 2003 it agreed to hand over 10 major military missions to South Korean forces, including a patrol at the border truce village of Panmunjom.
South Korea's main conservative opposition lawmakers and former defense chiefs have expressed security concern that US troops may withdraw, while the government says the American military will never pull out.
In the mid-August letter to his South Korean counterpart, Rumsfeld demanded Seoul should pay an "equitable" part of defense costs for stationing US troops in South Korea, according to the ministry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060827/pl_afp/skoreausmilitary_060827203213 |
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