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President Roh Moo-hyun looks out the airplane window just after his flight landed in San Francisco on September 14.
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President says role of U.S. troops in Korea should change
During a visit to the United States last week, President Roh Moo-hyun said, "The opinion that the United States Forces Korea (USFK) should serve as a trip wire is wrong," according to a September 18 statement by the presidential office. In a meeting with U.S. congressional leaders in Washington on September 13, a day before the summit with his U.S. counterpart, Roh said, "Those who oppose the transfer of wartime operational command are the people who have claimed that the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division should be left near the military demarcation line as a trip wire," presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said. Regarding Roh’s remarks, Yoon said that "Roh was explaining that many issues related to the alliance between the two nations have been solved since the inauguration of his administraton. The president meant that our nation’s role with the U.S. has seen significant coordination." According to the Blue House, Roh said at the congressional meeting that "those who have so far depended too much upon the United States are now becoming anti-U.S. activists. I can tell you that we are now in the process of overcoming such discord." The term "trip wire" has long been used to refer to U.S. 2nd Infantry Division troops, who since the war have been stationed north of the Han River. The term alludes to the fact that if the North should attack the South, because of this "trip wire" the U.S. would automatically be involved in the conflict. However, those troops are in the process of being moved South of Seoul. At a press conference with Yonhap News last month, Roh said, "The USFK has been expected to automatically intervene in a war as a trip wire. I want such a situation to stop."
