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The Eighth U.S. Army Command will likely stay on the Korean Peninsula even after full operational control of Korean troops is handed over to Seoul in 2012, contrary to rumors. During the Korean War, the Eighth Army commanded more than 600,000 South Korean and U.S. ground forces. But with its functions reduced, the Eighth currently serves as an administrative support command.
"I understand that Washington has changed its plans and decided to keep the Eighth U.S. Army on the Korean Peninsula, but will reorganize it as a U.S. ground forces command in Korea around 2012,¡± when wartime operational control is transferred to Korean forces, a military source said Sunday. That would mean the Eighth is reorganized according to Washington¡¯s need to maintain a self-reliant military command in South Korea once the CFC disappears.
Rumor had it that the Eighth might be disbanded or moved somewhere else, since the Second Army Division under the Eighth was transformed into a cutting-edge unit called a "UEx" in 2005 and because U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Burwell Bell hinted last September that the Eighth could be reorganized. The Korean and U.S. militaries are apparently working out ways of jointly using weapons and precision-bombing equipment under an integrated air and space operations center after the handover of troop control.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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