U.S. Troops to Pass Through Korea in Quicker Rotation

An armored brigade of about 4,600 personnel under the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division here will be disbanded in June next year, to be replaced by a division now stationed in Texas.

But its major equipment and facilities including tanks and armored personnel carriers will simply change hands and then manned by a new batch of troops every nine months.

The changes were approved by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, according to the 8th U.S. Army headquarters on Thursday.

That means no U.S. infantry brigade will be permanently stationed in Korea, a change that comes under a long-term strategy of "strategic flexibility" initiated by the administration of George W. Bush.

There will be no change in the total number of U.S. soldiers stationed here at any one time of some 28,500 personnel or in the amount of equipment, an officer with the U.S. Forces Korea said. "They will simply rotate faster."

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