Thanks for commenting. I think no matter what we do Taiwan in some shape or form is going to integrated into China in the next 20-30 years just like Hong Kong.

I do not believe in a full withdrawal of USFK because the US military provides a balancing effect in northeast Asia between the great powers there. However, the current status quo of USFK needs to change. The USFK transformation needs to happen and the Korean government is doing everything possible delay it.

If the delay games continue some serious threats of withdrawing the 2ID should be considered. When General Trexler threatened to withdraw the Air Force from Korea just a few days later he was given his bombing range he had demanded from the ROK government.

Also the US frontier will never be pushed back to the US west coast because of Hawaii along with Guam and other important territories that serve as important US military bases in the Pacific.

US forces in Korea and Japan are nothing more then a balancing force in northeast Asia that has been able to keep the peace for 55 years now in an area of the world that has had much conflict in recent centuries.

I really don’t expect much of an upgrade or even a downgrade to happen in the alliance. I expect Lee to keep saying the right things and maybe do something like expand ROK naval power into the Indian Ocean but I think his ultimate goal is get USFK back to business as usual. Business as usual also appears to be the route Washington is willing to go now as well despite all the strong lobbying from General Bell.

“Any predatory attack from Asia must be an amphibious effort. No amphibious force can be successful without control of the sea lanes and the air over those lanes in its avenue of advance. With naval and air supremacy and modest ground elements to defend bases, any major attack from continental Asia toward us or our friends in the Pacific would be doomed to failure.

Under such conditions, the Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader. It assumes, instead, the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake. Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense. It envisions no attack against anyone, nor does it provide the bastions essential for offensive operations, but properly maintained, would be an invincible defense against aggression. The holding of this littoral defense line in the western Pacific is entirely dependent upon holding all segments thereof; for any major breach of that line by an unfriendly power would render vulnerable to determined attack every other major segment.

This is a military estimate as to which I have yet to find a military leader who will take exception. For that reason, I have strongly recommended in the past, as a matter of military urgency, that under no circumstances must Formosa fall under Communist control. Such an eventuality would at once threaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and might well force our western frontier back to the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.”

Although you’re absolutely right in how you characterize ROK’s willingness to develop the alliance, it seems important that we do as much as we can to hold the line for as long as we can without sacrificing too much in honor by doing business with the Rohs of the world.

It is however NOT an automatic pact like NATO. The US must have Congressional approval — leftover from the days of distrust with Syngman Rhee. Also it stipulates that if the ROK initiates actions with its neighbors leading to war, it is on its own. This is why the US has a hands-off policy on Tokdo-Liancourt Rocks-Takeshima and the MDL episodes.

The question now is what does Gen Bell envision as being included in the new Pact to strictly define and limit the US participation in future conflicts? How will it impact on the potential US involvement in a conflict with not only the DPRK, but also Japan and China and even Russia?