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General Burwell Bell, Commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, said at a press conference Tuesday that Seoul and Washington agreed in 2004 to relocate the U.S. military bases to Pyeongtaek by 2008. He added that if the relocation is delayed for political or budgetary reasons, Washington would fight the delay. A key U.S. military official handling Korea¡¯s national security has voiced his discontent with an ally by using the word ¡°fight¡±.
After the press conference, Korea¡¯s Ministry of National Defense rushed to contain the situation by saying the U.S. military said later that the word ¡°fight¡± meant ¡°to work toward achieving a goal¡±. The level of communication between Korea and the U.S. has deteriorated to this low point, and understanding between the two countries has declined significantly. There are barbs in the words being uttered.
General Bell said he was surprised by Korean media reports that the base relocation would be difficult to complete by 2008. That means he had no idea of situation until he heard the media reports. Richard Lawless, deputy defense undersecretary for Asia and Pacific affairs, reportedly complained, saying he wondered if the Korean government was using the media to renege on a deal. Korea¡¯s Ministry of National Defense belatedly explained that the official agreement was to relocate the U.S. military base in 2008.
It¡¯s odd that nothing uglier than this has happened so far, considering the awkward atmosphere between the defense ministers of both countries during last year¡¯s annual Security Consultative Meeting. An alliance is a relationship where both countries are willing to risk their lives to protect each other. It¡¯s not difficult to guess what the honest answer would be when asked if both countries were truly prepared to do that for each other now. This is the result of the Korean government¡¯s four-year efforts at achieving military ¡°independence,¡± at the cost of damaging the Korea-U.S. alliance. The damaged alliance will cause our national security to be plagued with pains for a long time.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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