US proffer partial withdrawal from South Korea

Some good news for those of us who want an end to the American occupation of South east Asia. Unlike the half measure enacted in the early 90s this movement could see close to 12,500 heavily armed American soldiers being redeployed outside of Korea. The only major reduction in the occupation force in the last decade.

“The withdrawal would be the first major troop cut on the Korean Peninsula since the early 1990s, when about 7,000 U.S. soldiers were withdrawn.”

HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer

Unfortunately some 3,600 if these troops are slated for redistribution to Iraq, but at least it will reduce the tensions in Asia.

While many in Korea see the continued American presence as a threat to the countries sovereignty and the continued stability of South East Asia others are still fearful of the North. The pressure that America is able to exert on the Korean Government by threatening to reduce troop number or to increase them has undoubtedly lead to America gaining privileged status in talk within the country and between Korea and its neighboring countries. There is also a great deal of mistrust of American soldiers who are often seen as untouchable by local residents.

I would have preferred that these troop withdrawals had been from Japan and not Korea, but any reduction in American troops makes South east Asia far more independent and reduces the risk to civilians from the US military or from attacks on the military by terrorist groups fighting against the US lead soldiers.

It is also not clear if this is a gesture from Washington or if it was demanded by Government in Korea. Publicly it is being announced as a redeployment to allow America to respond more effectively to changes in international relations, though it could be a sign of America overreaching its army, or that the patience of Asian Governments is being eroded by America’s international affairs.

“The planned U.S. troop reduction is seen as part of Washington's global effort to realign its forces so they can better respond to emergencies worldwide.”

HANS GREIMEL, Associated Press Writer

There is also some disagreement on how rapidly these troops are to be redeployed and how the troops that are going to remain in Korea will be distributed to counter any threat .

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040607/ap_on_re_as/skorea_us_military&cid=516&ncid=716

Word	Kanji 漢字	Reading	Hanzi 汉字
Terrorist		テロリスト	恐怖分子
Iraq		イラク	伊拉克
Korea	韓国	かんこく	韩国
Sovereignty	主権	しゅけん	主权
Untouchable (イディオム)		アンタッチャブル
Overreaching (To overreach)	背伸び	せのび

 

With the increased demand on America’s army this redeployment may represent more of a measure to pacify terrorist groups in other regions of the world than a peaceful gesture towards South Korea, and it has yet to be seen if this reduction will include support staff or if it will consist of troops and officers.

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