US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has visited American troops on the frontline with North Korea, after confirming plans to withdraw them from the potential military flashpoint. "Our motto is 'fight tonight'. We take that seriously," said Major Tamara Parker, spokeswoman for the 2nd US Infantry Division, whose combat-ready troops guard this strategic valley leading from North Korea to Seoul, some 56 kilometers (40 miles) further south.
On Monday, following annual security talks with South Korea, Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil reaffirmed a plan to withdraw the division from camps near the frontlines as tensions on the Korean peninsula remain high owing to North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
In a joint statement the two defense chiefs acknowledged that North Korea's 1.1 million strong army still posed a "global" threat to peace. Rumsfeld insisted any pullback would not weaken the US stance against the Stalinist state.
"We understand weakness can be provocative, that weakness can invite people to do things that they otherwise would not be inclined to consider," Rumsfeld said.
"Needless to say, neither of our governments would do anything that would in any way weaken the deterrence and the capability to defend."
Just 11 kilometers (eight miles) south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that divides the two Koreas, Camp Casey is the biggest of 17 US military camps north of Seoul.
It is home to more than 6,000 troops and straddles a main invasion corridor used by tanks and troops of the North Korean People's Army when they launched the Korean War in June 1950.
Rumsfeld watched Camp Casey troops training in a simulator at the camp which is equipped with the latest PAC-3 Patriot missile air defense system, MlAl Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, AH64 Apache Longbow helicopters, and Kiowa warrior scout helicopters.
Rumsfeld is scheduled to visit another forward-positioned US military post, Camp Humphreys, before heading south of Seoul to Osan Air Base, where he is to meet service personnel before returning to the United States.
On Monday the two allies agreed to a phased pull-back of some 15,000 troops close to the border with North Korea.
The move is part of a sweeping reorganization of US troops across the region, including the 47,000 troops based in Japan.
Analysts say the consolidation of forces could lead to reductions in the 37,000 US troops in South Korea, although officials denied that was on the agenda.
However, the two sides failed to reach agreement on a US-backed move to relocate troops from Seoul, designed to ease protests over their military presence.
Dozens of anti-US demonstrators staged protest rallies near the venue for the talks that also dealt with Iraq. Hundreds of riot police were on the streets in a show of force.
South Korean activists oppose President Roh Moo-Hyun's decision last week to dispatch some 3,000 troops to Iraq in support of US-led occupation forces. Roh's plan fell short of Washington's reported demand for more than 5,000 combat troops.
Rumsfeld nevertheless thanked South Korea and said it was up to each country to decide what they could contribute.
Rumsfeld later met with Roh and informed him that General Leon LaPorte, commander of US Forces in Korea, would be nominated for a one-year extension of his tour to May, 2005.
On North Korea, Rumsfeld and Cho urged Pyongyang to "completely, verifiably and irreversibly" scrap its quest for nuclear weapons.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has visited American troops on the frontline with North Korea, after confirming plans to withdraw them from the potential military flashpoint. ...Rumsfeld and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young-Kil reaffirmed a plan to withdraw the division from camps near the frontlines as tensions on the Korean peninsula remain high owing to North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
In a joint statement the two defense chiefs acknowledged that North Korea's 1.1 million strong army still posed a "global" threat to peace. Rumsfeld insisted any pullback would not weaken the US stance against the Stalinist state.
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NON-UN-ilateral, FYI.
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PDRK spends fifty years targeting our frontline. We move our frontline back. Chia Kim's threats are ipso facto devalued.