The United States may be forced to scale back its military capabilities in South Korea if Seoul doesn't agree to pay more for hosting American troops on its soil, a senior Pentagon official said Monday.
Last year, the U.S. agreed to cut South Korea's share of the cost of keeping American soldiers by 8.9 percent to US$680 million for 2005 and 2006, about 38 percent of the total deployment cost.
"We don't feel that this is an equitable arrangement," Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of defense for Asia and Pacific affairs, told reporters.
"If we have an outcome this time similar to the outcome last time, we will be forced to make real cuts," he said, without elaborating whether he meant additional troop cuts or the withdrawal of other military assets.
The U.S. is in the processes of downsizing its troop strength from the 37,500 to 25,000 by 2008 under a global troop-realignment plan. There are currently about 30,000 troops in South Korea.
In a separate move, the U.S. also plans to return wartime operational control of South Korean troops to the host nation by 2009, sparking speculation the moves show Washington's reduced security commitment on the peninsula.
The troop reduction led South Korea to call for a cut in its funding for the U.S. troop deployment. The U.S., on the other hand, has argued South Korea should contribute more, citing Japan which covers more than 70 percent.
"All of the commitments we've made about keeping the capabilities on the Korean Peninsula that we need to keep there in support of the alliance... we assume... the Republic of Korea will share a reasonable burden with us," Lawless said.
"This has become an urgent matter."
The allies are scheduled to hold a new round of talks later this month to negotiate South Korea's financial share for 2007.
The two nation's defense chiefs are also to meet in mid-October to finalize a road map for the transfer of the wartime operational command.
The burden-sharing dispute is one of the major cracks exposed in the half-century Seoul-Washington alliance, forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Other troubles in the ties are how to how to deal with a nuclear-armed North Korea, anti-American sentiments in South Korea and the establishment of an expanded U.S. military base in South Korea.
Washington, Oct. 2 (Yonhap News)
U.S. calls for S. Korea to pay more for hosting American troops |
