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The government strongly protested on Thursday statements made by 8th U.S. Army commander Lt. Gen. Charles Campbell during a Tuesday press conference. Campbell talked of being able to insert USFK anywhere in the world, having Korea-U.S. allied forces engage in international humanitarian operations and conducting peacekeeping missions in Northeast Asia.
The government issued its protests because Campbell's statements, which dealt with topics of a sensitive nature to Korean security, were made without any prior discussions at all. It is known that the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry and other national security related government bureaus went into emergency mode trying to understand the intentions behind the general's statements.
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Lt. Gen. Charles C. Campbell, commander of the 8th U.S. Army, reads his speech during Memorial Day commemoration services held at Yongsan U.S. military base on Thursday.
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Attention is focusing on how our government's reaction will influence coming alliance talks in June. The issue of USFK realignments is expected to be discussed at those talks.
A core government official said Thursday, "Right after Gen. Campbell uttered those statements, a high-ranking Korean government official protested to USFK saying, 'Gen. Campbell's statement contain much basis for misunderstandings and are mistaken'... After making our protests, USFK explained, "[Campbell] just pointed to a hypothetical path of development."
The official said, "From our position, because of China, peacekeeping activities in Northeast Asia and USFK serving as a mobile Northeast Asian strike force are burdensome... We are now considering plans stipulating systemic provisions for the U.S. to deliberate with out government prior to sending USFK anywhere."
Another government official said, "USFK exists for defense on the Korean Peninsula, and while the North Korean nuclear crisis isn't being resolved, how can one talk of changes in the character of USFK?" He added, "Gen. Campbell might have to take responsibility for what he said."
As controversy from Campbell's statement spreads, the Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday that, "The two countries are in the middle of discussions concerning the direction in which the Korea-U.S. alliance will develop through the Future of the Alliance talks, but there has been no broadening of the role played by Korea-U.S. allied forces, nor have there been any discussions of it."
(Yu Yong-won kysu@chosun.com )
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