By Really nothing new here from the latest statement on the status of the US-ROK alliance:
South Korea and the United States are discussing a plan to draw up “defense guidelines” next year in a bid to upgrade bilateral defense cooperation, according to defense and foreign ministry officials Wednesday.
The guidelines, similar to the U.S.-Japan Defense Guidelines established in 1996, would include key measures to strengthen military cooperation between the two, they said.
Among the topics are U.S. reinforcement plans in case of a war on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. nuclear umbrella for South Korea and the stable presence of U.S. forces in Korea.
“The defense guidelines will be part of follow-up measures to materialize the Korea-U.S. alliance joint vision adopted at the summit between Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Barack Obama,” an official at the Ministry of National Defense said. “The guidelines will include a comprehensive package of measures on how the two nations are to cooperate in the event of war on the peninsula.”
In the summit meeting in Washington, D.C., Obama said the U.S. government would provide an extended nuclear umbrella to South Korea in response to increasing nuclear threats from the North.
Lee and Obama adopted a “joint vision for the ROK-US alliance” that calls for building a broader, strategic partnership in the realms of politics, economy, culture and other areas beyond the security arena.
In the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul, Oct. 22, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates confirmed the increased defense cooperation with South Korea. In a joint communique issued at the end of the annual meeting, Gates reaffirmed “the U.S. commitment to provide extended deterrence for the ROK, using the full range of military capabilities, to include the U.S. nuclear umbrella, conventional strike and missile defense capabilities.” [Korea Times]
Read the rest but the only thing I found of interest was what was left out, which is the fact that nothing was mentioned about what the alliance’s role would be in the case of North Korean regime collapse. This possibility is more likely to happen than a war breaking out on the peninsula.
The latest currency reevaluation issue is only further driving home the point of how unstable the regime currently is.
8:25 pm on December 16th, 2009 1
It still covers many of the issues that should have been done during the ‘Roh’ regime. I agree not discussing what would happen if NK collapsed is foolish, but leave it to politicians to play the fools while the military will pick up the pieces later. (and will be critisized for not having a plan)