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Congress Demands Report on Troop Control Handover
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has asked the Department of Defense to submit a report by Dec. 1 on the transfer of full operational control of Korean troops to Seoul. The committee report is to describe "command and control relations on the Korean Peninsula," the committee said in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011. The committee recently called for a review of when and in what situations the timing of the transfer, which is planned for 2012, can be adjusted. It demanded the report include an evaluation of the preparations made by both South Korea and the U.S. to implement the agreement reached in 2006 and a plan to improve the efficiency of joint military operations. It urged Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cooperate with his South Korean counterpart when preparing the report. The situation in the Korean Peninsula still remains unstable, the committee said, as North Korea has expanded its nuclear arsenal, launched missiles, launched missiles, carried out a nuclear test, and recently sank a South Korean warship. The issue is expected to be a topic for discussion at the South Korea-U.S. summit at the end of the month, or the bilateral defense and foreign ministerial meeting next month. Posted by: Steve White 2010-06-11 |
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