President Roh Moo-hyun has come out against the United States Forces in Korea (USFK)'s planned transformation into a Northeast Asian rapid deployment force. "The clear thing is that our citizens will not become embroiled in Northeast Asian conflicts without our consent," he said before a graduation ceremony of the Air Force Academy's 53rd class.A high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said Roh's comments were a matter of principle and ways of setting them down formally were being studied in consultation with the U.S. The government also wants to make it mandatory for Washington to get prior consent from Korea when moving USFK forces elsewhere. Korea and the U.S. started discussion of the issue during the Security Policy Initiative (SPI) talks held in Seoul on Feb. 3, agreeing to decide it as soon as possible. Korea's position is that while some U.S. troops could be deployed from the peninsula to places of no immediate threat to Korea's security like Iraq, the USFK would not be allowed to intervene in matters with potentially grave consequences for regional security in Northeast Asia, such as the China-Taiwan standoff.
Washington is not keen on such restrictions and takes a dim view of getting prior consent from the Korean government when moving USFK forces off the peninsula. President Roh's statement is being read as a message to the U.S. confirming Korea's views in a contentious matter.