It has been learned well after the fact that he United States has told Korea that its plans to maintain reserve materials will be terminated by the end of next year. Controversy is stirring because the US told Korea of its plans in June of last year but the Korean government kept the information undisclosed for a year after that.
Some 99 percent of these materials are "War Reserve Stocks for Allies" (WRSA). That ammunition is not very strategically significant in the era of electronic warfare. Most of it is old and cannot perform a deterrent role, while still being extraordinarily expensive in terms of maintenance and repair. That is why the US Congress is terminating similar plans around the world, and the only countries have not seen reductions are Korea and Israel. In addition, most of the weapons being removed are things Korea produces on its own. Put simply, the end of such plans actually feels late in coming.
The only problem is that the Ministry of National Defense (MND) kept the matter a secret. Believing that shipping them back to the United States would entail too much expense the US Congress would like to see them sold or destroyed, and so the MND might have been thinking that it would lose its edge in negotiations should the information be made public and the focus of public opinion. It is an issue of war deterrence, and as such there can be issues which must be examined from a variety of perspectives. There could be serious environmental problems should the munitions be destroyed in Korea. One cannot understand how the MND consistently insisted on keeping the information a secret, without there having been any public discussion, and to have done so supposedly for the sake of the national interest. In the end, the ministry's shortsightedness has led to all sorts of speculation about the country's security.
It is very inappropriate for some in our society to exaggerate the significance of the move by suggesting there are signs of a crack in the US-Korea alliance, because it is something that was discussed between the two countries back since 2000. It is also not something that should be used to promote anxieties in the area of security. It was in December that the US stopped maintaining munitions that Korea can use in an emergency, and the reason given is that the Korean military has an appropriate amount of firepower.
The Hankyoreh, 11 April 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Don't Exaggerate About US Munitions |
