(LEAD) U.S. mulling rotation of troops in S. Korea to Afghanistan: commander

(ATTN: UPDATES with speech text on U.S. Web site; ADDS Seoul's comments throughout;
RECASTS lead, headline; ADDS background on Iraq deployment)
By Sam Kim

SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. is discussing with South Korea the
possibility of redeploying some American troops here to Afghanistan after they
readjust their South Korean tours, the top American military commander said in a
speech obtained on Monday.
South Korea's defense ministry denied being in talks with its U.S. counterpart on
the potential deployment, which would mark the second time for U.S. troops here
to be sent to the Middle East.
"Certainly, that's something that we are looking very specifically at. And, in
fact, there have been forces that were here that went to Iraq," Adm. Mike Mullen,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said, calling it "one of the issues
in discussion with the Koreans."
"We're in discussion. No decisions with respect to that right now," he said,
according to a transcript of his Oct 22. speech to a group of soldiers in South
Korea, available on the JCS Web site.
Mullen was in Seoul last week, accompanying U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates and attending annual security meetings between the allies. About 28,500
U.S. troops are stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea, which remains
technically at war with the two countries after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a
truce.
According to Mullen, about half of the U.S. troops here will be stationed with
their families on two- and three-year tours in seven to nine years under a tour
normalization plan. U.S. troops have traditionally come to South Korea on
one-year tours.
"The concern that gets raised with respect to rotating forces out of here is that
it lessens the commitment to the alliance and the Republic of Korea, and nothing
could be further from the truth," he said, using South Korea's official name.
"There are regional challenges that we have here, and actually they are global
challenges, so there is no answer to that question yet. It's out there and it's
being discussed, and we really haven't closed on whether it's going to be one way
or another," Mullen said.
Won Tae-jae, spokesperson for South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, said
Mullen may be speaking in "technical terms," denying his government is discussing
the issue with the U.S.
Thousands of U.S. troops were sent from the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea
to Iraq in 2004 to boost U.S. operations there. Dozens were killed.
Gates said last week in Seoul that he would welcome any contributions, including
military ones, by South Korea to help stabilize Afghanistan, where the U.S. is
considering a surge in troop deployment to fight insurgents and reconstruct the
country.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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