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Lt. Gen. Charles C. Campbell, commander of the 8th U.S. Army, said Tuesday that one shouldn't think of the Korea-U.S. alliance primarily in terms of numbers, but instead put priority on its capabilities, strongly hinting the possibility of a sizable reduction in U.S. troops in Korea. However, Campbell said that necessary military units such as information gathering and communication units would remain behind in Korea.
Campbell said this at a Tuesday¡¯s press conference with Defense Ministry beat reporters at 8th U.S. Army headquarters at Yongsan, and added that compared to the past, the abilities of the Korean military have been greatly strengthened, and one should evaluate its fighting power by comprehensively judging the capabilities of USFK, capabilities of U.S. forces in Northeast Asia and capabilities of the entire U.S. military that could quickly provide strategic support.
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Lt. Gen. Charles C. Campbell, commander of the 8th U.S. Army holds a press conference at the 8th U.S. Army headquarters in Yongsan Wednesday./Newsis
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Campbell, however, said that the missile defense system -- a critical defense program for Korea -- units to protect pre-positioned equipment, command and control (C41) related units, the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade and 1st Signal Brigade would remain in Korea even after the USFK reduction plan comes into effect. This is the first official comment made by a high-ranking U.S. official to talk specifics on U.S. troops that would remain in Korea.
About whether the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division would return to Korea following its mission in Iraq, Campbell said where the brigade would be deployed after Iraq would be decided later though negotiations between Korean and the United States. He explained that negotiations would progress at two levels, and the issue would be discussed at meetings between the two nations' defense ministers and generals.
Campbell said the future Korea-US alliance should be based on cooperation, just like Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has said. Campbell said in the 21st century, the range of operations [of Korea-U.S. allied forces] could be expanded to cover the Northeast Asia region. He said allied forces could carry out humanitarian support and peace keeping operations within the Northeast Asia region. In the past, the United States has talked several times about expanding the scope of the role played by U.S. troops in Korea; however, it has rarely talked about the Korea-US alliance and the role of the Korea-US allied forces in Northeast Asia. It looks like the United States is hoping for the Korean army to expand its range of operations in Northeast Asia.
(Yu Yong-won, kysu@chosun.com )
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