Tag: US-ROK Alliance

The ROK must be getting worried about the possibility of a Trump presidency because they are definitely out defending themselves lately in regards to how much they pay in defense costs:

Seoul’s Defense Ministry says that South Korea is making a considerable financial contribution to the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun made the comment during a regular briefing Thursday after U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump hinted at a renegotiation of defense costs with U.S. allies.

Moon said that although it was inappropriate to assess Trump’s remarks at the briefing, Washington acknowledges Seoul’s considerable monetary contribution to shared defense expenses. The spokesman said that U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Mark Lippert also recently made a remark acknowledging this fact.

Regarding signs that North Korea is preparing for a large-scale artillery drill using a replica of the South Korean presidential office on a shooting range near Pyongyang, Moon said that signs pointing to such drills have been continuously detected.

During a major foreign policy speech Wednesday, Trump said that if elected president, he would call for a summit with Asian allies to discuss a rebalancing of financial commitments.  [KBS World Radio]

Despite their best efforts it looks like the ROK will not be receiving the technology transfer they requested any time soon:

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter refused Thursday to accept South Korea’s request for the transfer of key American technologies necessary for Seoul’s “KF-X” indigenous jet fighter development project, officials said.

Carter stated the position when South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo asked him to reconsider the decision to reject the technology transfer during a meeting at the Pentagon, the South’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. Han has been in Washington to accompany President Park Geun-hye on an official visit.

Carter said, however, that he would study ways of technological cooperation, the statement said. The two ministers also agreed to establish a consultative forum to discuss ways to increase cooperation in defense technology, including the KF-X project, it said.

The Korean Fighter Experimental (KF-X) project, under which South Korea is to produce 120 combat jets, hit a snag after the U.S. Department of State in April refused to grant permission for U.S.-based Lockheed Martin’s export of four out of the 25 fighter jet technologies it has promised Seoul. [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link.

Despite what Donald Trump has been saying about the US-ROK relationship, the vast majority of Americans have a very positive view of both the military and diplomatic relationship with South Korea:

More than eight in 10 Americans say relations with South Korea are important while American support for the use of U.S. armed forces to defend the Asian ally stands at an all-time high, an opinion poll showed Tuesday.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs released the survey results ahead of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington this week. Park is scheduled to hold talks with President Barack Obama at the White House on Friday.

“As President Park Geun-hye visits the United States, American opinion of South Korea is largely positive. Majorities say US-ROK relations are important and see South Korea as a reliable partner,” the council said in a statement.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here we go again with the usual rhetoric from North Korea during every Joint exercise:

Anchor: South Korea has made clear that suspending its joint military exercises with the U.S. cannot be a precondition for dialogue with Pyongyang. Seoul revealed the stance after North Korea said that if the United States wants to engage in dialogue it must stop taking part in the joint drills.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.

Report: Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that ending South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises cannot be a precondition for dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.

The ministry Spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters that the joint drill is an annual event of a defensive nature.

Kim’s remarks came shortly after North Korea said the United States must stop its joint military exercises with South Korea if it wants to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang.

Kim said the joint exercises are necessary to prepare against the North’s provocations, adding that they are akin to a student preparing for a test.

Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the North’s Foreign Ministry said that if the U.S. abandons hostile activities, including the exercises, and chooses to walk a different path, then it would be possible to engage in dialogue and resolve many issues.  [KBS World]

You can read more at the link, but basically the North Koreans are trying to put the blame on the US for why talks cannot be started.

It figures the SOFA would come up in response to the anthrax scare at Osan AB:

South Korea is considering revising its military agreement with the U.S. to prevent another accidental shipment of live anthrax to the South, a ruling party lawmaker said Monday.

Safety jitters over biological weapons flared up after the U.S. military said last month a U.S. Defense Department laboratory had mistakenly sent a live anthrax sample to the U.S. Forces Korea’s Osan Air Base, south of Seoul.

Public concerns did not subside despite the USFK announcement that the sample was destroyed before inflicting any damage.

“(The government and the ruling party) decided to review necessary enhancement and supplement measures after determining whether there is a problem in the management and process of the Status of Forces Agreement,” Saenuri Party Rep. Won Yoo-chul said after a policy coordination meeting with Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo. Seoul will discuss any revisions at a joint SOFA committee meeting with the U.S., planned for July, the lawmaker said.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

Our latest Korea Chair Snapshot covers the new U.S.-ROK 123 agreement, announced on April 22. http://t.co/iAWdtbownm

— CSIS Korea Chair (@CSISKoreaChair) April 22, 2015

The July 2009 file photo shows an air-to-surface Hellfire missile launched from a U.S. Apache helicopter over the waters off South Korea’s southwestern city of Gunsan. The United States said on April 2, 2015, it has approved a possible sale of 400 AGM-114R1 Hellfire II Semi-Active Laser Missiles to South Korea. (Yonhap)

Shown is a signboard at a bus stop in New York on March 15, 2015, to promote the bilateral alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has two photos of South Korean President Park Geun-hye recently visiting U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert at a hospital in Seoul after the envoy was injured in an attack by a knife-wielding, anti-U.S. activist. (Yonhap)

Typical North Korean rhetoric and typical US-ROK response:

South Korea’s defense ministry said Thursday that annual joint spring drills with the U.S. will proceed as planned, despite North Korea’s call to cancel them in exchange for its pledge to suspend nuclear testing.

It was unclear how the decision to go ahead with the Foal Eagle field training and Key Resolve command post exercise would affect Seoul’s call for the two Koreas to hold their first summit since 2007.

“These are the annual exercises for the defense of the Republic of Korea,” a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. “Therefore, we need to hold them, and North Korea will need to return quickly to meaningful conversation which could reach real progress in denuclearizing North Korea.”

Washington and Seoul tout the two exercises as defensive in nature, but they routinely draw condemnation and threats from the North.

Approximately 12,700 U.S. troops — about half from outside the peninsula — and more than 200,000 South Korean troops took part in last year’s exercises, as well as a number of U.S. naval and air assets from outside South Korea. Details for this year’s drills, which the MND said will begin in early March, have not been announced.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Via the Marmot’s Hole comes this article posted on War is Boring by Kyle Mizokami who advocates for the removal of US troops from the Korean peninsula:

Imagine you possess the 15th-largest economy in the world. You have world-class cars and consumer goods, glittering streets and a lifestyle as good as any in the industrialized world.

Now, imagine you are being threatened by a hostile country one third as wealthy as Ethiopia.

Ethiopia.

In order to protect yourself from this economic juggernaut, you require the presence of nearly 30,000 American troops, the overpowering might of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and an American general to take charge in case this mighty opponent attacks
Laughable, right? Not at all. Welcome to South Korea.

It’s time for the United States to leave the Korean peninsula. South Korea can defend itself. [War is Boring]

You can read the rest at the link, but the removal of US troops from Korea is an issue that has been discussed repeatedly and will not happen as long as keeping USFK in place is in each country’s national interest.  I have posted about this issue long ago and these points are still valid:

• Korean economic impact
• Impact on foreign investment
• Korean defense spending
• Loss of Korean political influence in Washington
• Moderating American reactions to North Korea
• Political apathy
• Power of the status quo

As far as the US military goes the North Korean threat justifies maintaining certain budget levels in the Pacific and an additional four-star command.  For the US government USFK provides political influence with South Korea which prevents China from dominating South Korea’s foreign policy which has been the case for most of Korea’s history.

Then there is the nuclear weapons question.  If the US military withdraws it suddenly becomes in the national interest of the ROK to develop nuclear weapons to counter-North Korea.  If the ROK develops nuclear weapons would Japan do so as well?  To further compound this issue is that China would have to increase the amount of nuclear weapons they currently have to counter the US to also counter the ROK and possibly Japan.  A withdrawal of USFK could lead to a large nuclear arms race in the region.

Finally and most importantly people need to remember there hasn’t been a war on the Korean peninsula in over 60 years and there is a reason for that, USFK.  The US military is the strategic balancer in the region that is preventing one of the other three great powers from seeking hegemony over the region which has historically been the case.  Keeping a few thousand US troops on the Korean peninsula to maintain this balance is worth the cost to keep stability in such an economically important area of the world.  If someone wants to argue we have too many or not the right amount of troops in Korea I am open to that argument, but to completely remove USFK I do not see the benefit to the US or South Korea.

Anyone else have any other points they want to share on why the US military should or should not stay in South Korea?