US troops in S. Korea to withdraw from DMZ in advance of Pre-emptive Strike?

SEOUL - The United States and South Korea yesterday agreed to withdraw US troops from the tense Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas for the first time in five decades.

The troops will be moved further south, a joint statement said after two days of talks. The redeployment will remove US military bases from the Korean front line for the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

About 37,000 US troops are stationed in South Korea, most of them between the DMZ and Seoul, which lies 60km south of the border and within artillery range of North Korea.

The statement gave no timetable for the withdrawal but added that even after the redeployment, US troops will continue to train north of Seoul and close to the DMZ.

'When the redeployment from the DMZ is fulfilled requires further discussions,' said South Korea's Assistant Defence Minister for Policy, Lt-Gen Cha Young Koo.

He led the South Korean side in talks with the Americans led by US Deputy Assistant Defence Secretary for East Asia Richard Lawless.

The statement said the US and South Korea remained committed to 'improving the combined defence' but wanted to structure 'US forces in a manner that further promotes regional stability'.

The two sides will first consolidate US troops near the DMZ into two major bases, Camp Casey and Camp Red Cloud, north of Seoul. That process could begin as early as this year.

In a second phase of realignment, the troops will move to 'key hubs south of the Han River' which bisects Seoul, the statement said.

US officials have worried that their troops may be too close to the border, which means they would either be killed in large numbers or forced to withdraw south before regrouping for a counter-offensive in the event of an attack by the North.

The US forces also are close to urban areas, causing tension with residents.

In April, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said American troops stationed near the Korean front line could be shifted south, moved to other countries in the region or even brought home.

For half a century, US presence near the DMZ symbolised the US-South Korean military alliance and Washington's commitment to deterring hostilities on the divided peninsula.

Talk of American troop redeployments has been a touchy subject between Washington and its regional allies, Japan and South Korea, which are extremely anxious about US intentions, especially since the transformation was launched amid a crisis over the communist North's nuclear programme.

South Korean officials had opposed the redeployment of US troops to the south of Seoul, believing this would offer Washington the opportunity to launch a pre-emptive attack on North Korea's nuclear facilities beyond the range of a reprisal attack, with Pyongyang's artillery massed on the border. -- AP


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