No immediate plan to deploy U.S. troops from Korea: USFK

SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday that it has no
immediate plan to redeploy troops from the Korean Peninsula, refuting local media
reports that a tour extension plan would ultimately lead to a reduction in troop
numbers.
In a statement, the command of the USFK said a redeployment of its troops, even
if necessary, would only be possible in the late 2010s after close consultations
with the South Korean government.
There are currently about 28,500 U.S. troops serving in South Korea. Despite
Washington's repeated promises there will be no further cuts to that level,
concerns persist that some may be redeployed after Seoul takes back wartime
operational control, or OPCON, of its troops from the U.S. on April 17, 2012.
The defense of South Korea "remains the core mission of U.S. forces in Korea and
there will be no reduction of U.S. forces tied to wartime OPCON transition," the
USFK said in the statement. "There are currently no plans to deploy U.S. units
from the peninsula."
Refuting local media reports that said the U.S. servicemembers' normalization of
tours in Korea will be complete in three to four years, the USFK said "full
implementation of tour normalization will not be complete until much later in
this decade."
The USFK has taken the tour normalization initiative to lengthen the tours of
U.S. troops here and have them live with their family members.
In its Quadrennial Defense Review, containing its defense goals, strategies and
detailed plans for the next four years, Washington had conditioned redeployment
of Korean troops upon the completion of the tour normalization program.
The U.S. Joint Forces Command currently retains wartime OPCON over South Korea's
military, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, when the U.S. and South Korea
fought against the North.
The conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, leaving Seoul and
Pyongyang technically still at war.
The scheduled OPCON transfer has spawned concerns over a weakening of South
Korea's defensive capabilities amid Pyongyang's continuing nuclear ambitions that
led to an atomic test in 2006 and another in 2009.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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