A Needless Gamble With Our Nation’s Fate U.S. Says No More Troop Reductions after 2008 Eighth U.S. Army Likely to Stay in Korea Korea, U.S. to Sort Out UN Command Role by October

The date for the handover carries symbolic meaning since 4.17., in U.S. parlance, inverts the date -- 7.14. - when Rhee sent the letter to MacArthur. The agreement to effect the transition by the 2012 deadline came in a Friday meeting between Kim Jang-so and Robert Gates in Washington.

Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo shakes hands with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates before their meeting at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on Friday./Newsis

Opponents of the handover here worry about Korea’s security once the single wartime command structure is dismantled. Some fear the U.S. could wash its hands of its ally and withdraw from the Korean Peninsula before the North Korean nuclear crisis has been resolved. What is certain is that the nature of the bilateral military alliance will change. So far, South Korea and the U.S. jointly worked out strategies and, in an emergency, carried out operations jointly. But in the future, South Korea will take primary responsibility for its defense, with U.S. forces operating in support.

The problem at the moment is that South Korean forces lack the intelligence-gathering capability to carry out operations against North Korea on their own. Even when South Korea has full operational control of its own forces, it will depend on the U.S. Forces Korea and reinforcements from the U.S. mainland for a considerable time. But under a global U.S. strategy, the USFK will be more flexibly deployed after 2010. Washington has said it will maintain troop numbers here at about 25,000 as of 2008. But experts say that could change any time.

In practical terms, South Korea will have to work out an entirely new strategy for an emergency. The process has already started. Late last year, South Korean military authorities began formulating a new strategy that will replace the existing joint operational plan codenamed OPLAN 5027. They aim to finish it next year. Under OPLAN 5027, 690,000 U.S. reinforcements would arrive here within 90 days after a war with the North breaks out, equipped with some 160 warships and about 2,500 aircraft, but that is now uncertain if the U.S. role is reduced to mere support. The government insists there will be no security vacuum after operational control is transferred to South Korea. It aims to boost information gathering capacity and increase military strength by investing W151 trillion (US$1=W938) by 2011 and stresses that the fundamentals of the alliance have not changed.

Soldiers take part in Korea-U.S Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration (RSOI) exercises on March 30, 2006.

Political circles here are divided. Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Seung-yong on Saturday said the agreement was “a milestone” for an alliance that will “endure another 50 years.” “We have reaffirmed the solidity of the alliance and the deep trust between the two countries,” Yoon said. A close aide of former Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young said, "We respect the agreement. We believe that military authorities of the two countries have made a good call that doesn't damage the bilateral security alliance. Wartime operational control should not be politicized." An side of Chung’s successor Kim Geun-tae said the agreement was part of “liquidating” the legacy of the Korean War and restoring Korea to full independence.

Ruling party spokesman Choi Jae-sung said in a statement the agreement “lays the framework for independence.” “Though belated, we believe that a more stable and advanced security system has been established in the bilateral alliance." But an aide of Grand National Party presidential front-runner Lee Myung-bak said the problem was “not wartime operational control itself but who is going to manage it how. People don't think the Roh Moo-hyun administration and its followers are fit to handle this matter. A rational and prudent group of people, like the GNP, should handle it." An associate of Lee’s rival for the GNP nomination Park Geun-hye said the matter should have been left to the next administration instead of a lame-duck government.

GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said, "Korea will become isolated because of flippant political slogans like 'self-reliant defense.' Wartime operational control should be handled flexibly depending on progress in the resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis."

(englishnews@chosun.com )