Grand National Party lawmaker Park Jin, who visited the U.S. as a GNP special envoy, said on Sunday about plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops in Korea that, ¡°Some U.S. officials said they do not think of Korea as a true ally worthy of trust,¡± and said that one U.S. official told him that while it conveyed even to China detailed intelligence concerning nuclear technology transfers from Pakistan to North Korea, it did not pass on that intelligence to South Korea.
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People supporting the move of U.S. bases (right) and those opposing it hold demonstrations at Pyeongtaek, Gyeongi Province, the selected area for the move, on Sunday.
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Holding a press conference upon returning to Korea, Park conveyed the expressions of American officials who said, ¡°Korea is going in the wrong direction [in moving closer to China than the U.S.],¡± and, ¡°Korea seems like the country with the most serious anti-Americanism outside the Arab World.¡± Park said, ¡°According to officials at the Korean Embassy in Washington, they first reported about plans to transfer some USFK forces to Iraq on April 16, but there was no response from Seoul... About the USFK redeployment issue, too, our government said that our side wanted to go public with the plans, but the U.S. opposed this, but U.S. officials explained that the opposite was the case.¡±
He said, ¡°According to U.S. non-military sources, the initial USFK reduction plan prepared by the U.S. side was set at 13,500 men... To compensate, the U.S. would pump in US$11 billion to strengthen its fighting power, while the Korean side, too, would strengthen its defense capabilities with Patriot missiles and such while taking over eight ¡®major missions¡¯ currently being conducted by U.S. forces.¡±
(Yun Jeong-ho, jhyoon@chosun.com )
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