U.S. war reserve program in Korea to be terminated after 34 years

SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. program to keep munitions as war reserves in
South Korea will be terminated next month more than three decades after it was
established as a deterrent against North Korea, the Defense Ministry said
Wednesday.

Nearly half, or some 260,000 tons, of U.S. ammunitions stockpiled here under the
War Reserve Stocks for Allies (WRSA) program will still be maintained and used by
South Korean forces. The rest will be shipped back to the United States by 2020.
Seoul and Washington signed an agreement last month for the sale of the WRSA
ammunition to South Korea for a little over 270 billion won (US$184 million).
"Even though the WRSA program will be terminated, the two countries will continue
to maintain a system under which they will support each other's ammunition
needs," the ministry said in a press release.
A ministry official later said the transfer of WRSA ammunitions to South Korea
will be completed before the end of the year.
The U.S. program was initiated in 1974 in order to have enough munitions and
supplies ready for the combined forces of South Korea and the United States in
times of need. Washington decided in 2006 to terminate the program due to rising
maintenance costs.
Some 28,500 U.S. troops are currently stationed here as a legacy of the 1590-53
Korean War. South Korea technically remains at war with the communist North as
the Korean War ended only with an armistice treaty, not a peace agreement.
brk@yna.co.kr
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