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The U.S. has officially informed the Korean government that in addition to the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division that will be deployed to Iraq next month, the 2nd Infantry Division¡¯s battalion of M-109A6 self-propelled artillery and chemical warfare battalion would be withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula by the end of the year, and of the 12,500 troops that are to be withdrawn from Korea by the end of next year, about half (6,000) would be withdrawn sometime this year.
Moreover, the U.S. is pushing plans to make up for the reductions by strengthening the 2nd Infantry Division¡¯s 1st Brigade, a key combat unit, from its current 1,900 men to 4,000 men by the beginning of next year and reorganizing it into a high-tech ¡°Unit of Action¡± (UA) integrating network warfare. The re-organization of the 1st Brigade is the first of its kind anywhere outside the U.S. mainland.
A high-ranking government source said Friday that during the 10th round of the Future of the Alliance Talks in Washington held on July 22, the U.S. officially informed Korea of its plans to both reduce USFK and strengthen the 2nd Infantry Division¡¯s 1st Brigade.
According to the reduction plan, the reductions would focus on 8th Army and 2nd Infantry Division combat support and other support units, and of core combat units, one battalion of AH-64D Apache attack helicopters undergoing upgrades in the U.S. would not be returned to Korea, meaning that U.S. attack helicopters in the U.S. would be reduced from three battalions to two. Moreover, one of the 2nd Infantry Division¡¯s artillery brigade¡¯s two battalions of Multiple Launch Rocket Systems would be removed next year.
The government plans to ask the U.S. to delay the timing of the some of the reductions to 2007 during the 11th round of the FOTA talks next month.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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