The Graybeards - Korean War Veterans Association

ANNOUNCEMENTS
North Korean military is a very credible
conventional force.
Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service
SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 18,
2003 - With 1.2 million people
under arms, the North Korean
military is “a very credible conventional
force,” the U.S. general
in charge of defending against
that force said.
“They have the largest submarine
force, the largest special
operating force and the largest
artillery in the world,” Army Gen.
Leon LaPorte, commander of
U.S. forces in South Korea said.
He noted that North Korea has
120,000 special operations
forces.
LaPorte briefed reporters traveling
through the region with
Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld on Nov. 17. He
answered questions on the future
of U.S. forces in Korea and capabilities
of the South Korean military,
as well as the threat posed
by North Korea.
LaPorte said the North Korean
army - with its greater access to
modern technology - is more of a
threat than the navy and air force.
The sheer size of their military
makes them a threat, even if their
equipment isn’t as up to date as
it could be. “Much of their equipment
is aged, but they have a lot
of it,” LaPorte said.
Perhaps more importantly,
North Korea poses a significant
asymmetric threat. The country
possesses chemical weapons,
and “their doctrine is to use
chemical weapons as a standard
munition,” LaPorte said.
American officials are also concerned
about North Korea’s
weapons of mass destruction,
including potential use of its 800
missiles of various ranges. “The
missiles themselves are a significant
asymmetrical threat,”
LaPorte said. “But if that was
combined with a nuclear capability,
now you have a capability that
not only threatens the peninsula
but threatens the entire region.”
In October 2002 North Korea
said it had violated a 1994 framework
agreement with the United
States not to proceed with its
uranium-enrichment program.
And in early 2003 North Korea
announced reactivation of its plutonium
production program.
The other major threat North
Korea poses is through proliferation.
“North Korea is a known
proliferator of military technology,”
including missile technology,
LaPorte said.
LaPorte said officials are concerned
that North Korea could
provide weapons of mass
destruction, including chemical
weapons or nuclear material, to
terrorist organizations.
“We believe that nothing would
prevent them from selling
weapons-grade nuclear material
to other countries, rogue nations
or terrorist nations,” he said
U.S. to reorganize American military forces
in South Korea.
Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service
SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 18,
2003 - American military forces
in South Korea need to transform
to defend against changing
threats in today’s world, the gen-
eral in charge of U.S. and combined
forces in that country said.
“(Sept. 11) changed the way
the United States viewed the
world and viewed its adversaries,”
Army Gen. Leon LaPorte
said. “We now know we need to
change the way we do business
around the world.”
LaPorte is the commander of
the United Nations and
Combined Forces commands
here, in addition to U.S. Forces
Korea. He took time Nov. 17 to
explain important issues on the
peninsula to reporters traveling
with Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld on his visit to Asia.
Rumsfeld is in Korea to meet
with government officials for an
annual Security Consultative
Meeting. During a joint press
conference with his Korean
counterpart, Minister of National
Defense Cho Yung Kil, Nov. 17,
Rumsfeld called this year’s
meeting “one of the most substantive
ever.”
“As the U.S. and Korea look at
the 21st-century challenges and
the new security environment
we’re in, we’re working to transform
our combined military posture
to defend Korea and to
strengthen security and
prospects for peace on this
peninsula,” he said.
American forces in Korea are
preparing for a radical change in
the footprint. For 50 years, since
the armistice that ended the
Korean War, U.S. troops have
occupied nearly 100 camps and
stations in the southern half of
the Korean Peninsula. After the
coming reorganization, those
troops will be concentrated
around two major hubs.
LaPorte explained that the large
number of camps resulted from
the circumstances at the end of
the war. “(U.S. forces) basically
For all Korean War and DMZ Veterans
went to ground where we were
during armistice,” he said. “And
for 50 years, these camps and
stations have deteriorated, and it
is cost-prohibitive to maintain
these.”
Consolidating forces will allow
for greater efficiency and economy
of scale, he said. “By consolidating
into enduring installations,
we can maximize investment
and provide better quality of
life, better training opportunities
and better readiness.”
U.S. and Korean officials have
agreed to allow the reorganization
proceed in two phases: consolidation
and relocation.
The majority of American combat
power in Korea, the 2nd
Infantry Division, is scattered
among 17 bases in the northern
part of the country. The first
phase will consolidate these
forces into a more amalgamated
footprint in the north. The second
phase will involve the move of all
U.S. forces in the country to the
southern region.
The second phase will also
involve moving the roughly 7,000
U.S. troops out of the Seoul area.
“Twenty years ago, perhaps we
needed 7,000 to execute our military
mission,” LaPorte said.
“But today, because of the technologies
we have, we could
probably do our mission better
with significantly less.”
No timeframe has been set for
any changes. Officials are still
examining options. “The big
slowdown in moving out of Seoul
is you have to purchase land and
build facilities,” the general
explained. “There’re no facilities
readily available for these 7,000
service members to move into.”
He said there is still likely to be
a U.S. presence in Seoul after the
reorganization, but final levels
have not been agreed upon.
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