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The commander of U.S. Forces Korea on Thursday said the USFK may have to cut down on buying new military supplies to compensate for a shortfall in upkeep from Korea. To compensate for a W100 billion (US$1=W936.8) discrepancy rising from negotiations on forces upkeep between Korea and the U.S. governments, the USFK may have to cut the purchasing amount of military supplies and hiring of Korean workers at the USFK base ¡°within months¡±, Bell told reporters at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents Club. Bell claimed the cuts were ¡°inevitable¡± as the two nations agreed to set Korea¡¯s share at 41 percent of the total amount of around W725 billion.
At the press conference, Bell drew international media attention by pointing to the need for a redefinition of the largely nominal UN Command¡¯s role once Seoul takes over sole operational control of its troops. The body, also headed by Bell, is tasked with maintaining the armistice that ended the Korean War and consists of South Korea's allies during the war.
"The UNC commander will no longer have immediate access to [South Korean] combat troops which are postured along the DMZ and elsewhere, as he has had under the Combined Forces Command,¡± Bell said. "Unless addressed, this situation will make it impossible to credibly maintain the armistice." The USFK commander, who concurrently heads the UNC and CFC, already indicated on Jan. 9 that Seoul will have to handle the job of maintaining the armistice on its own for that reason.
The commander said it was necessary to organize the UNC "in peacetime as we will for war." "This is particularly true here in Korea, where crisis escalation could quickly, indeed almost instantaneously, lead to combat operations." Pundits speculate that this means reorganizing the UNC¡¯s role so it has operational control over Korean servicemen posted to the command even after the U.S. hands over full operational control of Korean forces to Seoul, and that the UNC would take on a supporting role.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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