The Death of an Alliance, Part 35

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld adds the second hint in about a week that more troops cuts are coming for South Korea. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on March 23 that South Korea and the United States have agreed on the transfer of wartime command of South Korean forces to South Korea, and that the two nations are discussing a timetable.

Rumsfeld confirmed this in a Pentagon news briefing yesterday and commented on the timing of the turnover, saying, “The timing depends on how quickly the Korean government develops its capabilities to assume [wartime command] responsibility. A greater South Korean role would allow further U.S. troop reductions.

 

Rumsfeld also said, “South Korea brought up the issue of transferring wartime command and talks are underway. Everyone agrees that 55 years after the Korean War, it is reasonable that South Korean forces increasingly take on more responsibility.“

This is overdue by at least a decade, and will be overdue by two by the time it’s done.  The previous such statement, by USFK Commanding General Burwell B. Bell,  here.  Expect the announcement of the timetable in October. 

Update:   Meanwhile, the ChiComs have started piling their furniture on the lawn outside Kyongbukkung Place:

China’s ambassador to South Korea, Ning Fukui, on Wednesday offered a rare comment on a recent Korea-U.S. agreement to give the U.S. forces stationed here greater “strategic flexibility” so they can intervene in trouble spots elsewhere. “If it is targeted against a third country, China will have no choice but to shift attention to the matter,” the envoy said at the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis. He expressed hope that “both sides will do nothing to jeopardize security and peace in Northeast Asia.”