Not to worry, says Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung, massive U.S. reinforcements will be dispatched to the Korean Peninsula in the event of an emergency even after the Korean military begins exercising independent wartime operational command.
Yoon said the roadmap leading to the transfer of wartime command would include provisions for both a continued U.S. presence and overwhelming U.S. reinforcements as called for in the Korea-U.S. mutual defense pact.
Well, if you say so, Mr. Minister.
Meanwhile, 13 former Korean defense ministers are protesting plans to transfer wartime control, with Roh Tae-woo’s defense chief, Lee Sang-hoon, going as far as to say that if he were to meet USFK commander Gen. Burwell Bell, he would tell him to ignore what the Korean government says.
Unfortunately, USFK—and the U.S. government as a whole—may already be ignoring what Seoul says.
11 Comments
“Unfortunately, USFK—and the U.S. government as a whole—may already be ignoring what Seoul says.”
Not so unfortunate, I think. The (partial or complete) withdrawal of USFK, if and when it happens, will be one of the best ideas the U.S. has had in a while. It will make the ROK put more efforts/Won into its own defense, and it will definitely free up much-needed U.S. military resources to be utilized in places they’re really needed.
I completely agree, Nomad.
A drawdown or withdrawal of USFK is not required to make Seoul pay more of the costs associated with keeping USFK in Korea; it can be negotiated. Might have to ride roughshod to do it, but it can be done.
And I guess my position on USFK helping prevent a regional arms races is familiar enough. Cheaper to stay in Korea now than to have a conflict to deal with later.
Both the U.S. and ROK are heading for ‘regime changes’ so we’ll se what happens.
There is little beyond entertainment or bewilderment (”Did he really say that?”) value in anything uttered from the Blue House or Uri central.
I hope cooler heads can hold the line until the elections of 2007-8 sort things out.
i too agree with what nomad has to say. we need our forces else where and shouldn’t really be spending more what we should be here in korea. i strongly feel that the ROK military isn’t ready for the handover, but if you can talk the talk… you better be able to walk the walk when the DMZ gets blitz by the 1+ million NORK military and missiles with chemical agents strapped on.
“Not to worry, says Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung, massive U.S. reinforcements will be dispatched to the Korean Peninsula in the event of an emergency even after the Korean military begins exercising independent wartime operational command.”
unfortunately that’s probably true. we’ll feel sorry for the country, then bail out ROK for the 2nd or 3rd time (i dunno, i’ve lost count) when it really comes down to it. it would only take a matter of days to get our ground forces to the nearest port, and have our 16s, 15s, raptors refueled in mid-air to hold back NORK. if this ever happens again, then get the job done and stop at the borders of China-NORK.
I don’t understand, coming from current/prior military folks, the notion that a) ROKA is not ready to be on it’s own, but b) ROK is getting what it’s asking for so they better be ready. That clearly sets ROK up to feel vulnerable. The ROK reaction is predictable, and in the end we’ll be back, but sorting out more problems and spending a lot more to do so.
The key item to note in all of this is that the debate is going front page in South Korea, and the vocal input from past military leadership will only increase said debate. A very good thing.
wow. so much has changed since 1950. anyhow, rok shouldn’t rely on the calvalry showing up. i say, rok adopts a similiar policy to dprk’s “songun”. if that means rok spends upwards of 20 percent of its gdp.
in todays world of predator drones and gps missiles and soon to be implemented nano-tech based weapons, the so called million man strong armies are or will be obsolete. it’s just more dead bodies… a strong navy with the aegis system and few of those red october type nuclear subs with several multi-war headed icbm’s, i ask you, who’s going to mess with you ?
I’m just throwing this out here to see what some of you well informed expats think…..
What will happen to the Korean economy if there is a USFK pullout? I’m not talking about the loss of jobs for the Koreans working on the bases or the millions of dollars USFK personnel pump into the local economies. I’m talking about the reaction in the world financial markets. Do you think foreign investors will still invest in the markets here without a US presence with the two Korea’s still being technically at war. I’m not so sure Preznit Noh has thought the situation through very well.
It obviously would have a negative impact - just how much of one will depend on what the situation is vis-a-vis the Norks at the time. I am aware of one fairly substantial inbound investment that got torpedoed as a result of the last missile test.
Stupid Commies think kicking out the USFK will bring harmony between two Koreas.
Think again. Without the US presence, NK will only be more belligerant toward SK demanding more money and supplies.
More troubles ahead.
How can you still have the promised 640,000 follow-ons, if the ROK negated the Oplan 5029 in Mar 2006 and substituted a “Concept plan” (Conplan 5029)??? The “concept plan” is sort of a general idea of what they would do if there’s a war, but without specifics. That’s why in the Mar 2006 RSOI-FE 06, only parts of the Oplan 5029 was exercised.
Without an Oplan 5029, who is identified as the follow-ons??? And since they are not identified, who’s coming??? Does anyone know???
One Trackback
[...] However, what I find interesting is that the cornerstone of the “independent defense” policy of the current Korean government is that if war did break out the Yankee cavalry will come in and save our asses anyway. So how is this really “independent defense”? [...]