Seoul preparing for wartime troop control

The atmosphere for South Korea taking over command of operations in wartime from American troops is becoming ripe, despite worries of a security vacuum.

Experts say it is inevitable that wartime control will return to Korea because of changes in the defense situation between the two allies.

Recently, U.S. officials expressed a positive outlook on the issue, apparently connected with the United States Forces Korea`s ongoing reduction of its troop presence and efforts to become more agile in dealing with regional contingencies.

While Seoul has control of its military in peacetime, the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, currently headed by a U.S. four-star general, has the wartime command, which was delegated to the U.S. forces during the 1950-53 Korean War. The general also heads the USFK and American-led United Nations Command, which governs the armistice of the Korean War.

In his speech at the Air Force Academy on March 8, President Roh spoke of his ambition to take over wartime operation within 10 years.

"Our military will develop into an independent force that has autonomous operation command within the next 10 years. In preparation for the wartime operation command redemption, the military should secure its own operation planning capability," Roh said.

Roh also expressed his wish to be a power balancer in Northeast Asia, securing the peace and prosperity of not only the Korean Peninsula.

"His remarks signaled for the first time that Korea will seek the redemption of operation control. I think the president meant by his speech the Korean military should review the issue seriously," one military officer said on condition of anonymity.

The president`s aim coincided with South Korea`s taking over some USFK missions and ongoing American troop cuts by 12,500 to 25,000 by year 2008.

South Korean troops have been taking over 10 major operations that the USFK was previously in charge of, including Joint Security Area duty, close aviation support and counterfire artillery attacks.

Some military officials predicted the issue of wartime control will emerge soon as a key topic in the Security Policy Initiative talks on USFK`s strategic flexibility and mutual defense concerns.

In a town hall meeting with Defense Department civilians in the Pentagon on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stressed South Korea`s role in defending the peninsula against possible North Korean aggression.

"There isn`t any reason in the world why they (Koreans) can`t provide the security capabilities, along with some assistance from the U.N. forces, the United States," he said.

Rumsfeld said the Korean military is assuming a greater share of the responsibility for providing the deterrent and the defensive capability on the Korean Peninsula, while USFK will focus on sea and air power for support.

Defense analyst Pyo Myung-ryeol said a stable nation`s economy should support the so-called cooperative self-reliant defense posture, which will also be affected by the security status in neighboring regions or North Korea`s nuclear weapons program.

Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung recently said he aims to increase the defense budget to 3.2 percent of the total gross domestic product from the current 2.8 percent by 2008.

The government is to deploy 40 F-15K Strike Eagles by August 2008 in a $3.6 billion contract with Chicago-based Boeing.

It plans to suggest a bid for the 2 trillion won ($1.3 billion) project to build four Airborne Early Warning and Control systems, commonly known as AWACS, between 2009 and 2011.

By 2009, it will deploy eight more P-3 patrol aircraft, which are used primarily to detect prowling enemy submarines.

Also, the Army has fielded another multiple rocket launching battalion consisting of 29 launchers and 310 extended range ammunition pods, a key asset to counter North Korea`s conventional-rocket attacks.

(smjoo@heraldm.com)



By Joo Sang-min