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Negotiations Imminent On Pullout of 12,000 U.S. Soldiers In Korea

Negotiations Imminent On Pullout of 12,000 U.S. Soldiers In Korea

Posted May. 28, 2004 22:29,   

한국어

Korea and the U.S. will start negotiations next month on cutting down the number of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) troops as a part of the U.S.’ Global Posture Realignment (GPR) program.

“After the official announcement of the GPR in November last year, the Bush administration proposed last month that Korea and the U.S. begin negotiations on a USFK realignment plan in June or July,” said a senior government official on May 28. He added, “The Korean government delivered its willingness to positively consider holding the negotiations if the U.S. makes an official proposal.”

He also said, “At the second meeting of the Future of the Alliance (FOTA) in June 2003, the U.S. briefly explained its plan to pull out 12,000 U.S. soldiers from Korea and proposed to negotiate the issue. However, the negotiation did not take off because the U.S. suggested in October last year that we postpone the negotiation for a year.”

Disclosure of the negotiation schedule means that although the date is not set, there will certainly be a massive reduction of USFK, an issue ignited by the U.S.’s recent decision to dispatch a brigade from USFK’s 2nd Infantry Division to Iraq.

With the official negotiation schedule coming onto the surface as opposed to the behind-the-scenes discussions of the past, the combined defense system of Korea and the U.S. is expected to change substantially.

The government had already laid out a proposal in September of last year incorporating an acceptable schedule of a gradual reduction of USFK forces with the self-defense capability of the Korean military in case negotiations are held. Recently, members of the negotiating group, consisting of high-level military officials, were selected at a steering committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).

An official at the Ministry of Defense said, “So far, the focus was on relocation of the USFK base, but now to prepare for the negotiation, we are closely reviewing the plan to readjust the roles of the Korean military and USFK, such as handing over USFK’s mission to Korean forces in emergency.”

When the U.S. initially mentioned its plan in June 2003 to pull out 12,000 U.S. soldiers from Korea, the Korean government set out a four-point measure: a) to design a proposal for the negotiation by October 2003, b) to receive assurances that the U.S.’s plan will not bring instability to economy and security of Korea, c) to complete a program incorporating reduction of USFK with the Korean military’s self-defense capabilities, and d) to immediately publicize the negotiation schedule once started.

In late September 2003, the government sent to the U.S. a negotiating group composed of members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Defense and the NSC. The group proposed to either start a negotiation and make the schedule public, or begin negotiation after the end of 2004. However, both parties reportedly agreed to postpone consultations on the issue until summer of 2004 when the U.S. showed disapproval over disclosing the negotiation schedule.



Jung-Hun Kim Ho-Won Choi jnghn@donga.com bestiger@donga.com