zimv20
Jun 7, 2004, 11:38 PM
link (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/international/asia/08KORE.html?hp)
The Bush administration has presented a detailed plan to South Korea for withdrawing one-third of its 37,000 troops on the divided peninsula by the end of next year as part of a wider effort to reposition American forces around the globe, officials in Seoul and Washington said Monday.
A senior Pentagon official in Seoul described the plan, which would remove 12,500 American troops from South Korea, as a "concept proposal" that could still be revised, although South Korean officials indicated they had little doubt the withdrawal would move ahead.
The reduction of the American force, in place for decades to deter attack from North Korea, would be the first since 1992, when about 7,000 troops were withdrawn. The move would include the previously announced transfer of a brigade of about 3,600 soldiers to Iraq this summer, Pentagon and South Korean officials said. Those troops, from the Second Infantry Division, are not scheduled to return to South Korea after their tour in Iraq.
The proposed cutback is sparking debate in South Korea about whether Washington is turning its back on a long and close alliance with the country, especially as new disclosures about North Korea's program to build nuclear weapons have increased concerns about the intentions of that closed society. This week, American and South Korean security officials are conducting regularly planned talks on the future of the alliance.
But conservative editorial writers and politicians are already accusing the liberal government of President Roh Moo Hyun of allowing anti-American views to flourish unchecked, provoking Washington to cut back sharply on the American military presence.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has been actively drawing up new designs for American forces worldwide, not just in South Korea, to take advantage of new technology to more rapidly assess threats and more quickly move troops to meet them. The Pentagon has also proposed moving two Army divisions out of Germany and making other changes to European-based forces to reflect different security needs since the end of the cold war.
North Korea has 1.1 million soldiers, and South Korea has 690,000.
According to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, the government wants the proposed troop reduction to be phased in over 10 years.
The Bush administration has presented a detailed plan to South Korea for withdrawing one-third of its 37,000 troops on the divided peninsula by the end of next year as part of a wider effort to reposition American forces around the globe, officials in Seoul and Washington said Monday.
A senior Pentagon official in Seoul described the plan, which would remove 12,500 American troops from South Korea, as a "concept proposal" that could still be revised, although South Korean officials indicated they had little doubt the withdrawal would move ahead.
The reduction of the American force, in place for decades to deter attack from North Korea, would be the first since 1992, when about 7,000 troops were withdrawn. The move would include the previously announced transfer of a brigade of about 3,600 soldiers to Iraq this summer, Pentagon and South Korean officials said. Those troops, from the Second Infantry Division, are not scheduled to return to South Korea after their tour in Iraq.
The proposed cutback is sparking debate in South Korea about whether Washington is turning its back on a long and close alliance with the country, especially as new disclosures about North Korea's program to build nuclear weapons have increased concerns about the intentions of that closed society. This week, American and South Korean security officials are conducting regularly planned talks on the future of the alliance.
But conservative editorial writers and politicians are already accusing the liberal government of President Roh Moo Hyun of allowing anti-American views to flourish unchecked, provoking Washington to cut back sharply on the American military presence.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has been actively drawing up new designs for American forces worldwide, not just in South Korea, to take advantage of new technology to more rapidly assess threats and more quickly move troops to meet them. The Pentagon has also proposed moving two Army divisions out of Germany and making other changes to European-based forces to reflect different security needs since the end of the cold war.
North Korea has 1.1 million soldiers, and South Korea has 690,000.
According to Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, the government wants the proposed troop reduction to be phased in over 10 years.
