U.S. to withdraw troops from Korean DMZ

USA TODAY ^ | 6/05/03 | AP

[kattracks]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)

[Dog]

This is big..... If I was Kimmy I would worry.

[Principled]

hmmmmm.....

could mean many different things, including what Rummy said. But methinks the fellas in charge have something long-range in mind...

[evad]

You can get a better overall view of the target from a distance :)

[tiamat]

Dog wrote:

This is big..... If I was Kimmy I would worry.

**************************************

Yes it is.

Have you noticed that a bunch of our returning warships now have Pacific locations?

Chia Dictator ought to shut up.

Tia

[11B3]

Move these troops out of South Korea altogether - base them in Taiwan. Then watch the real enemy cry foul.

[pcx99]

Cool, now all those Korean students who had so much free time that they could protest in the streets about the "evil" US presence now has something to occupy their time, like stare at the north korean guards on the DMZ, unless of course they want to give up their video games and give starvation a whirl :)

[DB]

Hmmm...

[snippy_about_it]

ping

[bart99]

"Cool, now all those Korean students who had so much free time that they could protest in the streets about the "evil" US presence now has something to occupy their time, like stare at the north korean guards on the DMZ, unless of course they want to give up their video games and give starvation a whirl :)"

---

I wonder if South Korea has a national draft, much like the USA had many many years ago. If not, they should. Time for them to use their own 'resources' (people) and quit relying on a relatively small USA contingent (37,000 soldiers) to "protect" their country. I understand that South Korea has about 700,000 soldiers. With some conscription of those protesting students, with a tour on the front line at the DMZ, perhaps they would realize this isn't a political game, but a problem for THEIR country, with North Korea playing with REAL guns. Perhaps, just perhaps, the South Koreans would gear up for their own defense, and add a few hundred thousand to their ranks of fighting men and women and show North Korea that they are serious about the situation and WILL fight if necessary and.... and..... maybe they'll show some REAL support for an ally who has been there protecting them for 50 years.

Besides, China, a big beneficiary of South Korean trade, might just take a harsher stand against the North if the South showed by their actions that they were on the side of the USA rather than protesting us.

Responsibility for one's own actions applies to countries as it does to individuals.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yeah. Pulling back could imply that America is ready for a pre-emptive attack from a safe distance. Even if it does not materialize, it is a good psyOp anyway.

Americans are steadily rearranging their deck for the ultimate showdown when everything else fails. And N. Koreans know it. In the meantime, Americans are also corraling China, S. Korea, and Japan to form a common front against N. Korea, that is, to incrementally cut off any economic support.

Bush may want this crisis to be resolved by the fall of the next year before his re-election campagin starts in earnest. Either N. Korean regime caves or there could be a regime-change.

However, one important complicating factor is Iran. I am not sure which one is the next target in Bush's mind, N. Korea or Iran.

[TigerLikesRooster]

RE #10

S. Korea fields close to 700K soldiers because she has a national draft.

[section9]

There are those who believed that the Eigth Army had its troops set too far forward to ease South Korean concerns that we would spot the DPRK half of the South's "sacred soil" to save our forces for later.

In other words, there were no valid miltary reasons to keep the troops that far up, in the teeth of the DPRK's massive artillery batteries.

Moving the bulk of the Second Infantry Division and it's auxiliary units south of the Han provides that unit (and, hopefully, most of the South Korean Army) with a natural defensive line. Most of the northern batteries are in fixed positions, so in the first days of a North Korean assault, the North Korean Army will be shielded by a massive artillery blanket.

However, unless the North Koreans can easily move their batteries with their mechanized infantry, the level of artillery protection will necessarily decrease as the DPRK troops move south to meet the Eighth Army MLR.

The idea is to maintain the unit cohesion of Eighth Army and slow the momentum of the initial assault, which will involve well over a million North Korean soldiers. We need about a week for two things to happen: deployment of Third Marine Division from Okinawa and redeployment of CONUS based air assets to the Pacific Theater of Operations. Time is everything, here. If we can apply American airpower and stall out North Korean armor, we will win the war. Decisively.

All that will be left to do is the assembly of an American field army in Japan for an Inchon-type invasion in the North Korean rear.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[OldFriend]

For years Korea has been the worst deployment for our military. It's only for one year and if you volunteer for that duty you get to choose your next deployment assignment.

I pray that our troops will be in a safer place since the South Koreans are playing the anti-american game, they can defend themselves!

[SAMWolf]

Thakns for the ping.

As far as I'm concerned, either use the troops to kick Kim's ass or bring em home. We've been there long enough.

[oldironsides]

Good post. I have often wondered why America foots the bill for this matter. The ROK division can handle it. Let them do it.

[TigerLikesRooster]

RE #13

The defensive strategu of S. Korea and U.S. until mid-70's was to retreat to the south of Han river and regroup and counterattack, upon N. Korean invasion.

Then it was changed to a new strategy of holding the position near DMZ and push them back without any retreat.

Now America changes its strategy again. This time pulls her ground force from DMZ to the safer area to the south. It will skip the part of retreating and regrouping altogether. American troops appear to be positioned as a main counterattack force while the S. Korean ground force will do the work of wearing down the initial thrust of N. Korean troops.

This is how it looks on the surface. But under the current context, the relocation could be also for the pre-emptive attack if it becomes necessary. As I said, it is an implied threat to N. Korea, which will be duly noted by all players, including N. Korea.

[hchutch]

We'd need an Iowa-class BB or two to kick the door in at any point on the coast we chose for the 21st-century version of Inchon.

[Guillermo]

According to their (South Korean students) view, North Korea would never ever attack their "brothers."

S Korea has twice the popluation and 50 times the economy of the North. Let THEM defend their own selves.

[Guillermo]

No matter what the Americans do, it will be viewed as a "threat" by the North Koreans.