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US Troops to Push Ahead with Drills Despite Korean Rapprochement
The United States will go ahead with the world's largest computer-assisted war games in Seoul next week despite the warming of ties between North and South Korea, military officials said Thursday.
The exercise, codenamed Ulchi Focus Lens, will be staged from August 21 to September 1, the US military in South Korea said, calling it a "routine, regularly scheduled exercise" involving US and South Korean troops.
Ulchi Focus is one of the three major regular exercises held annually by US and South Korean troops.
The two Koreas have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 war halted only by a shaky armistice, and 37,000 US troops are based in South Korea to help defend any possible invasion from the North.
But there has been a rapid thawing of North-South ties since the unprecedented inter-Korean summit in mid-June which ended with the signing of an accord to move toward reconciliation.
In a major sign of progress towards easing military tension, North Korea has halted its vitrolic propaganda attacks against South Korea. In return, Seoul has promised to scale down military drills.
For the first time during the Ulchi Focus Lens exercises, South Korea this year will not have troops and equipment in the field, although US troops will be still be mobilized.
"There will be no troop movements for field training for this year's Ulchi Focus on our side," a South Korean defense ministry official said.
The South's move marked a subtle change in its traditionally strong security ties with the United States.
The rapprochement with the North has thrown into question the presence of US troops in South Korea, with many dissidents and civic groups now calling for their withdrawal.
US Defense Secretary William Cohen said last week the United States may review the size of the contingent if relations between the South and the North kept improving.
But Cohen argued for a continued US military presence on the Korean peninsula, even if the two Koreas do eventually decide to reunite.
In a speech Tuesday to mark Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung spoke up in support of the presence of US troops in his country.
"The US forces in Korea are playing a very important role not only for the deterrence of war on the peninsula but for stability in the Northeast Asian region," he said.
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