S. Korean minister calls for continued deployment of U.S. troops in Korea

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee Wednesday called for continued deployment of U.S. troops in the Korean Peninsula after Korean reunification.

"Certain elements of the ROK-U.S. alliance must be upheld even after the
unification of the peninsula," Lee told a forum here. "I repeat, even after the
reunification of the two Koreas, the alliance will continue to contribute to the
security of the region."
Lee's remarks come on the heels of the decades-old bilateral alliance between
South Korea and the United States reshaping as South Korea seeks greater
independence from the U.S., which still maintains 28,500 forces in the Korean
Peninsula as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea will take back wartime operational control (OPCON) of its more than
600,000 troops from the U.S. in 2012 despite concerns that the OPCON transfer
will create a loophole in the defense of South Korea from a possible invasion by
nuclear-armed North Korea.
Pyongyang detonated its first nuclear device in 2006, and multilateral talks are
underway to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions in return for
hefty economic benefits and diplomatic recognition.
Peacetime operational control was returned to Seoul in 1994.
Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S. forces in Korea, told a news conference here
last week that "The United States is not leaving after the OPCON transfer,"
adding that the bilateral alliance will "continue to stay strong."
Lee and Sharp are here for an annual meeting of defense ministers and senior
military officers of the two sides.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed in
April to maintain the current U.S. troop level, although Lee's liberal
predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, pushed ahead with the gradual reduction of U.S. troops
to 25,000 in coming years.
Lee and Bush also agreed to proceed with the OPCON transfer as scheduled.
Minister Lee dismissed concerns over the OPCON transfer, saying, "If we do not
allay the concerns of Koreans who worry that OPCON transfer will lead to weaker
deterrence, then those concerns in and of themselves could lead to lower
confidence in the alliance."
The minister asserted that a joint defense system to be established after the
OPCON transfer should be "as robust and efficient as our current combined defense
system."
"The overwhelming military power to be delivered by the U.S. during crisis will
have definitive implications," he said.
Minister Lee also said a "unified Korea will serve as a more mature partner that
can share the security burdens of the U.S. at the regional and global levels."
"The alliance is evolving into a module wherein the ROK is assisting the U.S. in
its effort to contribute to world peace," he said, noting that South Korea
currently deploys 1,079 troops in 13 countries to contribute to global peace and
stability in close cooperation with the United States' war on terror.
"As strategic partners sharing the fundamental values of democracy, the two
states have stood shoulder-to-shoulder weathering the vicissitudes on various
global stages, including Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan," he said. "Now, the
Korean military is taking a step forward in making amends for all that it had
received from the international society during the Korean War, in ways of
peacekeeping and disaster relief efforts."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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