Posted on 06/07/2004 2:50:30 AM PDT by kattracks
The United States plans to withdraw 12,500 troops from South Korea by the end of next year as part of a global troop realignment, a senior South Korean official announced."The United states informed us of its plan to pull out 12,500 troops by the end of December 2005. That figure includes 3,600 to be sent to Iraq," said Kim Sook, the head of the foreign ministry's North American affairs bureau.
Washington currently stations 37,000 troops in South Korea under a five-decade-old mutual defense pact.
"US troops will eventually be reduced to 25,000," Kim added at a televised press conference here.
He said the US plan was disclosed at talks late Sunday with Richard Lawless, the US deputy assistant secretary of defense.
Kim said Lawless had explained that the troop realignment was part of Washington's ongoing Global Defense Posture Review (GPR) and would be pursued in such as way as to avoid weakening the capability of US and South Korean forces to deter a nuclear-armed North Korea.
"The United States has pushed for the GPR plan over the past two years according to the changing security environment affecting all US troops including those in Japan, Germany and elswhere in the world," he said.
Under the GPR plan, Washington is seeking to transform its military into a leaner, more mobile force to deal with the shifting post-Cold War security environment.
The announcent came during scheduled talks on the military alliance between South Korea and the United States between a US delegation led by Lawless and South Korean officials led by Kim.
A good start.
ping
Next: Germany. Let me live to see the day...
When there is nothing external to protest within a country, then it will turn on itself and consume its citizens under socialism, or it will understand the individual is responsible and prosper. Without this individual responsibility, they are lost in S. Korea.
well as numerous times was said on these pages,
the protestors in Soul can now be happy...
And Okinawa, too! That other remnant of WWII..
I agree with this move; the US doesn't need troops in S. Korea to protect them from the North; South Korea maintains a 600,000 strong army, which is better trained and equiped than their Northern counterparts. South Korea also has twice the population & 40x the economy, so I think they can take care otf themselves.
Next stop, get the troops out of Germany, since the Russian threat has largely disapperred.
"Next: Germany. Let me live to see the day...
And Okinawa, too! That other remnant of WWII.."
Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Okinawa is quite different from South Korea. Despite what you may or may not believe about how Okinawans view our bases on the island, Okinawa's strategic location (unlike the ROK) isn't in question here. US bases in Okinawa aren't going anywhere -- and that's a fact.
I urge President Bush,
to remove US forces from Germany.
Would someone tell me what Truman's 'exit strategy' was for Korea? I'm here now 50 years later...
I would go one step further. Get out of NATO. The formation of the alliance was to prevent Western Europe from the Russians. No more Russian threat, why pour billions into the European economies (our so called allies). Let Germany and France lead the way in European defense.
...Okinawa's strategic location isn't in question here.
Why not? Guam is but 600 miles away..
Time to cut the adicts off from the supply. S.Korea and Germany (actually Europe) have lived under our umbrella long enough. In hindsight, we should have let the Europeans feel more of the icy grip of the Soviet Union around their throats. Than perhaps, "Old Europe" would not have grown so complacent and spoiled. Welp, its not too late for South Korea to feel that grip. Hey South Korean students, I hear the gulags are lovely this time of year. . enjoy.
My Old Man will be glad to hear that. He made that landing in an Amtrac April 1, 1945.
LOL!!
Plans Slow for Base Closures in Europe - Dec 2003
The second article states they are going to start by restationing troops based in Germany that are currently in Iraq. An excerpt:
The Los Angeles Times, citing unnamed senior defense officials, reported earlier this year that many units from the 1st AD — now in the middle of a 12-month tour in Iraq — would not return to bases in Germany, but be directly restationed to stateside bases.
Some 1st AD troops in Iraq also say they were warned to plan on moving their families to stateside bases within six months after returning from Iraq this spring, and many 1st ID soldiers say they expect not to return to Germany when their 2004-05 Middle East deployment ends.
I certainly would love to see our troops redeployed from germany to the Ukraine or Poland, etc...
It is about time we sent that economic (and military trust) message to all of those countries.
.
I heartily agree with you, TG.
To quote Foghorn Leghorn: "This is gonna cause more confusion than a mouse in a burlesque show!"
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