UPDATE 2-U.S. to hand South Korea lead role in wartime
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nN07380351&imageid=2006-08-04T085323Z_01_SEO07_RTRIDSP_2_KOREA-NORTH-MISSILE.jpg&cap=A%20woman%20walks%20past%20a%20mock%20North%20Korean%20missile%20(top%20R)%20displayed%20with%20mock%20South%20Korean%20missiles%20at%20the%20War%20Memorial%20of%20Korea%20in%20Seoul%20August%204,%202006.%20%20REUTERS/You%20Sung-Ho%20(SOUTH%20KOREA)&from=business
Mon Aug 7, 2006 12:55pm ET
By Kristin Roberts
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The United States and South Korea will overhaul a military relationship that stretches back more than 50 years by giving Seoul the lead in wartime operations, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.
Details of the new relationship, which should be finalized in October, are based on U.S. assessments of South Korea's improved military capabilities and the perceived threat posed by North Korea, the official said.
Those assessments and the changed relationship, in turn, will allow the United States to bring more of its troops out of South Korea than previously expected, the official said.
"As the adjustments (in capabilities) take place, there will be a reduction in the number of U.S. forces located in the Republic of Korea beyond the level of 25,000 that we've currently agreed to," the official said. "Will it be a substantial reduction? I do not believe so."
The United States now has about 30,000 troops in South Korea and had planned to cut that to 25,000 by 2008.
According to the official, the United States wants South Korea to assume the lead in war operations by 2009, but South Korea has pushed for a 2012 target date. After the switch, U.S. forces will assume a support role and the combined forces command, an integrated military headquarters, will disappear.
Changes to the countries' military arrangement have been considered for years. The official's comments on the changing relationship, however, follow North Korean missile tests that drew international condemnation and led to notably strained ties between Seoul and Pyongyang.
The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, would not comment on those missile tests. But the official said the changes under consideration, and the reduced U.S. troop presence, would have no impact on the countries' ability to deter aggression from the north.
"It's something we can do without reducing in any way, shape or form the deterrence value on the peninsula," the official said. "And we think it's perfectly within the capabilities of the Republic of Korea to take on these additional responsibilities."
"Our judgments as to where the North Koreans are going with their forces and their capabilities inform the decisions we're making today with the Republic of Korea," the official said.
Despite the agreement on wartime operations and U.S. force levels, the United States and South Korea have not resolved a dispute over U.S. access to ranges within South Korea that would allow air forces to train on the peninsula. U.S. forces last year went elsewhere in Asia to train.
"If this problem isn't resolved in the near term, that is within the next couple of months, entire units will have to leave the peninsula on a rotating or recurring basis. The worst signal you can send to North Korea is you have to go off the peninsula to train your forces," the official said.
� Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
