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An Asia specialist with the U.S. Congressional Research Service has presented a report to Congress suggesting the U.S. Defense Department is pushing to change the military command structure as a means to drastically reduce the role of the U.S. Forces Korea. Larry Niksch drew up the 16-page report after North Korea's volley of missile launches earlier this month, saying part of the plans is thought to be putting the U.S. Forces Korea under the U.S. Army First Corps whose headquarter is to move from Washington State to Camp Zama in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo.
That would also mean lowering the rank of the USFK commander and changes in the UN Command in Korea, which have taken orders from a four-star general since the Korean War.
Niksch's analysis could mean that moves to downgrade the military relationship with South Korea reportedly instigated by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are well underway. A former high-ranking official in the Bush administration told Grand National Party lawmaker Park Jin last week that Rumsfeld wanted to bring the Korea-U.S. alliance down to a level similar to Washington¡¯s relationships with the Philippines or Thailand.
If the idea of downgrading the USFK is being analyzed in a report for congress, it suggests that Defense Department plans to reduce the military position on the peninsula are making headway. It is believed that the U.S. is pushing for Asian military alliances centered around Japan, Australia and Singapore. The military relationships with Thailand and the Philippines are not alliances but rather military cooperation. The U.S. had some 100,000 troops stationed at Subic Bay and Clark Air Force bases after Philippine independence, but they were withdrawn at Manila¡¯s request in 1992.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo restored some of the relationship, but this only means joint military exercises and regularly scheduled security talks. After losing the Vietnam War in 1975, the U.S. had some 48,000 troops stationed in Thailand pulled out, replaced by once-yearly joint military exercises called Cobra Gold and some other training. A source in Seoul said U.S. plans to take down the Korea-U.S. alliance to the level of its relationships with Thailand and the Philippines would be ¡°tantamount to saying it wants to end the alliance altogether."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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