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The United States has informed the Japanese government of its desire to move part of its Pacific command located in Fort Lewis, Washington to the U.S. military installation at Camp Zama, located in Kanagawa, Japan, said Kyodo News, which quoted several U.S. and Japanese sources.
The move is apparently part of the U.S. military's global reorganization plans, and sources say it is possible the infantry division associated with the United States Forces Korea (USFK) could be moved to Zama should the command in Fort Lewis be relocated there, and if the USFK command is dissolved as part of global U.S. strategy.
Recently U.S. officials also told Japanese authorities of the possibility it might want to dissolve the United States Forces Japan (USFJ) command located in Yokota, Tokyo.
Kyodo reported that moving the command from Fort Lewis to Zama could violate the defense treaty shared by the U.S. and Japan. Japanese officials have reportedly told the U.S. that it would be difficult to get approval for such a move from the governments of the cities where Camp Zama is located.
The USFK, however, announced that "foreign news reports [about dissolving the USFK command] are not fact, and there are no such plans."
"Nothing has been decided about any changes in the USFK command system," a U.S. military official said.
(Jeong Gwon-hyeon, khjung@chosun.com )
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