This really isn’t surprising considering President Bush said the same thing last month while meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, but US Defense Secretary Robert Gates who is in Seoul for alliance talks has announced the US would maintain troop levels in South Korea at 28,500:
South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and his U.S. counterpart Robert M. Gates agreed Tuesday to maintain the level of 28,500 American troops here, a senior defense official here said. (…)
“The defense ministers shared their view that maintaining the number of U.S. troops at the current level contributes to the joint combat readiness, and agreed to abide by the summit agreement between the two sides,” the official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. [Yonhap via TMH]
However, remember that President Bush upgraded Korea’s arms buying status and thus the reason you see Korea looking at buying both PATRIOT missiles and Apache helicopters from the US. If the Korean government buys this equipment that would mean more American units that could possibly be withdrawn from the peninsula.
However, an issue that has the potential of causing USFK withdrawals more then anything is if the Korean government tries to play delay games with the Camp Humphreys relocation plan. USFK is very serious about making the relocation a reality.
With the Korean left now emboldened with their success demagoging the US beef issue I fully expect them to try and rally the Korean mobs against USFK next. The issue they can best demagogue against USFK is the ridiculous camp pollution issue I have debunked over and over again here. However, as we have all seen with the US beef issue, facts mean little to these people. I think it is definitely a possibility that the Korean left will use the camp pollution issue in order to force the Korean government to renegotiate the USFK relocation.
If people still think the US beef protests has anything to do with US beef that means you probably haven’t spent much time in Korea. The Korean left has much larger goals in mind and the US beef protests is just the start.
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7:03 am on June 4th, 2008 1
12:35 pm on June 4th, 2008 2
I doubt many Americans have a problem with withdrawing US troops from Korea completely. If that is what Koreans want, give it to them. They have the capability to stop North Korea without our help. It will be much more bloody without the US, but they can still do it on thier own. We only need to be on standby if the Chinese or Russians intervene.
1:04 am on June 5th, 2008 3
“If people still think the US beef protests has anything to do with US beef that means you probably haven’t spent much time in Korea. The Korean left has much larger goals in mind and the US beef protests is just the start. ”
Korean left, and right and center too.
1:40 pm on June 5th, 2008 4
[...] Gates has been in Seoul this week for talks with his Korean counterparts in regards to the future of the US-ROK alliance. Today it [...]
11:24 pm on June 9th, 2008 5
[...] is coming despite promises from President Bush to Korean President Lee Myung-bak that the US would keep force levels at 28,500. If this relocation of the command happens the 28,500 figure will not last for [...]
1:19 pm on June 15th, 2008 6
2:40 am on July 4th, 2008 7
[...] to continue to do everything possible to delay the relocation. President Bush announced in April a delay in troop cuts that were anticipated as part of the Camp Humphreys relocation and he should use that as a [...]