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The Commander of U.S. Forces Korea Gen. Burwell Bell said Thursday his government was looking at two separate wartime command structures for the USFK and Korean forces. Bell was quoted as telling lawmakers the USFK will perform an assistant role in the future. The remarks, which were reported by participants in a breakfast meeting at the National Assembly, mark the first concrete statement from the U.S. about how forces are to be commanded once Korea takes back wartime operational control of its forces and Combined Forces Command is dissolved.
Two separate command systems already exist in Japan, forming a kind of parallel structure that would organize combined operations in emergencies through a consultative body. Bell said the independent command would be of a different configuration to NATO¡¯s, which is made up of 26 countries but only has one combined command.
Bell lamented that the U.S. has still not been given a new bomber training range since the government shut down a controversial facility in Maehyang-ri, reiterating that the U.S. Air Force needs one to keep the skills of fighter pilots up to scratch and hinting again the Air Force will have to go elsewhere if the problem is not resolved soon.
The general warned of the threat posed by North Korea¡¯s missiles, saying Pyongyang has more than 800 medium-range Rodong and Scud missiles that could strike anywhere in South Korea. Bell said all six of the of Scuds and Rodongs North Korea tested last week were launched precisely and successfully, and the nighttime launch that started them off was unprecedented. He said that threat should bring home the reason the Korea-U.S. alliance exists. Bell also called for discussions on a ballistic missile defense system in South Korea, according to lawmakers at the meeting.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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