From the current World Media Watch....
2//The Chosun Ilbo Updated Nov.25,2003 18:16 KST
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200311/200311250016.html PENTAGON DENIES PLAN TO MOVE TROOPS OUT OF KOREA
by Yoo Yong-won
The Pentagon has officially denied a report by the Washington Times on Tuesday saying that the U.S. military is considering a plan to transfer some of its troops in South Korea to Iraq and Afghanistan, and to disband the U.N. Command in the country. The Pentagon said that no discussion or decision was made on a U.S. troop reduction in Korea, and that any realignment of U.S. troops here would be made under close consultation with the Korean government.
For several practical reasons, however, it is becoming more likely that some of the U.S. forces in Korea are to be sent to Iraq. The U.S. Army currently has 485,000 troops in 10 Infantry divisions. Of the U.S. Army forces, nine divisions have been or are scheduled to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. The United States already sent four divisions to Iraq, and is planning to replace three of them by February or March next year. In Afghanistan, one division has been deployed, but is also planned to be replaced with another division by next February.
Only the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division is being excluded from the assignment, because the United States takes the North Korean military threat seriously, and has no wish to compromise its promise of security for South Korea. Yet it remains unclear how long the United States will be able to keep its promise, at a time when more troops are urgently needed in Iraq. For the first time since World War II, the United States is mobilizing National Guard units for Iraqi operations. To make things worse, the planned troop dispatch by South Korea is falling short of U.S. expectations.
(MORE)