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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| S. Korea to get war control over U.S. troops in 3 years |
| 2006-08-04 |
| The Pentagon plans to give South Korea wartime operational control over U.S. troops within three years and will keep U.S. troop levels at more than 20,000 over the next several years, defense officials said yesterday. "Things are changing in Korea," said a defense official involved in the changes being drawn up in talks called the Security Policy Initiative. Following the latest round of U.S.-South Korea talks July 13 and 14, the Pentagon and South Korean military and defense officials agreed to draw up the command transfer plan that will shift combat authority from the U.S.-led combined forces command to a new structure led by South Korean military commanders and supported by U.S. forces. The goal is to complete the transfer of authority by 2009, but some changes could take five years. "We are responding to the new realities on the peninsula," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Those realities include growing South Korean military capabilities, Seoul's pro-engagement policies toward the communist North, and anti-American sentiments among South Korean leaders. The shift of operational control of South Korean forces "means that they would take the lead in a conventional war on the Korean Peninsula in deterring and defeating" North Korean forces, the official said. As for troop levels, officials said there are no plans for major U.S. troop cuts beyond plans to have 25,000 troops by 2008. The Pentagon plans to keep 20,000 to 25,000 troops in the country for the foreseeable future, the official said, noting that the fighting power of both U.S. and South Korean forces will remain constant or increase as new weapons are deployed. A recent statement by a South Korean defense official that the latest talks did not include discussions of U.S. troops in a future reunified Korea triggered inaccurate press reports that the U.S. planned to pull troops out of Korea, the officials said. "We're not going away," the senior official said. "We're going to stay and we're going to stay with increased capabilities." Future forces there will shift from the current force of large ground combat troop units to forces emphasizing air and naval power, the official said. That shift would take place only after the new command structure is set up. The reorganization would abolish current U.S.-led combined forces command structure, set up in 1978 to replace the United Nations command that dated back to the Korean War in the 1950s. As part of the talks, U.S. and South Korean officials recently completed a comprehensive security assessment of the region and are working on a "joint vision study" that will examine the future of the U.S.-South Korean military alliance. The study will focus on alliance changes stemming from South Korea's evolving relationship with North Korea, including the prospect of a formal peace agreement to replace the armistice that has been the basis for the half-century-old U.S.-South Korea defense alliance. "We are trying to anticipate all these stages of evolution that might eventually end up in unification, but may not," the official said. "We may end up in a permanent situation where the two Koreas are de-conflicted, they have a peace treaty, and they're interacting between one another and the alliance will have to be fundamentally restructured." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #10 Michael New The little intricacies of 'military justice'. While the law says he wouldn't be under UN control, the uniform is something prescribed by his command authority. If the command authority proscribes a specific uniform, that is the uniform the troop wears. So refusing to be in the proscribed uniform is in fact a disobedience of a lawful order. Yes, we understand his intent, but the issue shifts from obeying the Secretary General of the UN which is non-applicable since the American law does not permit it, to an issues of disobedience which means heÂ’s unlikely to get relief from anyone inside the Pentagon and only possible by Congress or the President. No one said life is fair. |
| Posted by: Uloter Grinenter8414 2006-08-04 22:18 |
| #9 I would hope that no one would make such an idiotic decision. Bad move to cede authority to anyone for our troops. This is asking for all kinds of trouble. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2006-08-04 16:32 |
| #8 I heard awhile back some U.S. Soldier refusing to don the 'blue helmet' of the U.N. for some peacekeeping duty somewhere. This was under Clinton. Yeah, CF, the soldier is Michael New. His website is mikenew.com. He's still fighting his dismissal for refusing to wear the UN uniform. Basic stance of course was that he swore to defend the US, not the UN. He was willing to serve in the mission assigned to him, just not in a UN uniform. He's lost every round so far (since 1995) but to his credit he keeps on fighting. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-04 13:44 |
| #7 the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity This is suspect. We will never give any nation control of our soldiers. I believe we would have to rewrite some laws to make it possible and that would never get through congress. This is an emotional hot button for most in uniform and for our law makers. I wonder why a story like this would be leaked out at this time. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-08-04 12:45 |
| #6 Note that these Air and Naval units that will make up our 20000 can be redeployed very quickly to other regions vs the current troops on the border that are locked into place by being on the front line. |
| Posted by: Oldcat 2006-08-04 10:56 |
| #5 Not even the U.N.? I heard awhile back some U.S. Soldier refusing to don the 'blue helmet' of the U.N. for some peacekeeping duty somewhere. This was under Clinton. I'll bet that would be one of the first laws the Donks want to change. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-08-04 10:48 |
| #4 We need to leave. Our Troops are not a merc force. Deploy them where they are needed elsewhere. The South has the wish to reunite. The North wants to on it's terms and under a communist government. We are not going to stop the morons in the south who wish to reunite under any cost. So lets get out and get it over with and arm Japan to the teeth. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2006-08-04 10:47 |
| #3 Don't expect the press to get it right. Control by law [U.S.C. Title 10] is an unbroken line in the chain of command between the President and the lowest level ranker. We coordinate, we cooperate with allies, but by law we can not subordinate. |
| Posted by: Uloter Grinenter8414 2006-08-04 10:44 |
| #2 Exactly. Give 'em op control of American troops? Like hell. Get out now, and let the sniveling bastards do their own dirty work. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-08-04 10:20 |
| #1 Those realities include growing South Korean military capabilities, Seoul's pro-engagement policies toward the communist North, and anti-American sentiments among South Korean leaders. How about we just very quietly ruck-up and get the PHUECH out? Sixty sum years, should be long enough. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-08-04 09:25 |