Future of the US-ROK Alliance
The Marmot’s Hole is providing some great information about the future of the US-ROK alliance:
To set up a forward operational headquarters, the Army plans to move the I Corps headquarters from Fort Lewis to Camp Zama, a U.S. post southwest of Tokyo. Military officers said negotiations with Japan are progressing and an agreement may be reached in time for President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to announce it in November when the president visits Japan.
(…)
In addition, the headquarters of the Army in the Pacific is preparing to assume command of Army forces in South Korea, which are gradually being reduced and may eventually be largely withdrawn. Plans call for dismantling or shrinking the United Nations Command in Seoul that dates back to the Korean War that ended in 1953.
The Army also plans to transfer the Eighth Army headquarters from Seoul to Hawaii and to turn back to the South Koreans control of their forces commanded today by a joint U.S.-South Korea headquarters. The four-star American general’s post in Seoul would move to Hawaii.
I would not take all of this as gospel as to what is going to happen here in Korea and the Pacific. This maybe what some Army staffers want to happen, but often reality and politics are what influences what will actually happen. Any shake up in USFK will be subject to some huge politics.
On the political front the Marmot also links to One Free Korea’s posting of a Congressional Report from US House of Representative aid Dennis P. Halpin. Here is a part of the report that I continue to find to be a troubling aspect of inter-Korean cooperation:
Many in Washington, myself included, wonder at the lengths that South Korean society appears willing to go in pursuit of reconciliation, no matter what the apparent cost. For example, people here are somewhat amazed at the willingness of South Korea, both following the 2000 Summit and in a more recent proposal, to turn over convicted North Korean agents without receiving one single South Korean abductee or Prisoner-of-War in return. While humanitarian gestures are always appreciated, the American people would not tolerate for five minutes news of the forced detention of a Prisoner-of-War from a past conflict. Yet the detention of hundreds of South Korean POWs as slave laborers in North Korean coal mines for half a century raises barely a whimper in Seoul. Is the price of reconciliation to be paid by the continued enslavement of old soldiers who were just doing their duty for the Republic of Korea?
Could you imagine if the US gave the old Soviet Union back captured spies without reciprocation all in the name of “cooperation”. I still find it amazing that kidnapped citizens and POW’s from the Korean War continue to rot in North Korea while the South Korean government does nothing about it. The Japanese on the other hand pushed on the North Koreans to give back their kidnapped citizens and Pyongyang eventually returned the abductees. The Koreans can say what they want about Prime Minister Koizumi of Japan but at least he cares about his citizens enough to go to Pyongyang and bring them back from that gulag.
The report goes on to highlight other key issues between the US and Korea including the rewriting of history to make General MacArthur and all US soldiers who served in Korea out to be war criminals while the North Koreans are thought of as liberators. You may think this is silly, but like the report says, this is what is being taught to South Korean children today. Definitely read the entire report, it is a definite must read.
It appears that finally some attention is being shown on what is going on here in Korea. The media reports a lot on the nuclear crisis, but IMHO the real crisis is the propaganda war we are losing here. The amount of disinformation that is taught to Korean youths here in the schools and the media is truly astounding.
Just interacting with KATUSA soldiers that work with me I have had plenty of interesting conversations with them on history they didn’t know about and perceptions of Americans they found to be untrue once they worked together with us. These perceptions and thoughts about history were formed by their schools and the media. I try to highlight the disinformation I see here in Korea on my blog, but I’m preaching to the choir. Someone within Korea needs to show some leadership and identify what the current policies are costing South Korea. The current policies will cost the Koreans morally and financially in the long run as they continue to turn a deaf ear to North Korean atrocities while at the same time bashing the US in order to appease the North Koreans. Keep in mind that the next South Korean presidential elections are about two years away and a new America friendly government or at least one that is not openly anti-American would have a huge impact on any changes in policy here in regards to the US-ROK alliance. However, two years from now could be too late as proposed changes may already be implemented by then. As always we will see what happens.
Keep this in mind; how many wars has South Korea had against their country the last 50 years since the founding of the US-ROK alliance? Zero. How many wars was Korea involved in the 50 years before the founding of the US-ROK alliance? To many. Korea needs a big time wake up call and maybe the realignment of the USFK is the wake up call that is needed over here.
