Defense Secretary Mattis Says that USFK’s Status Will Not Be Negotiated with North Korea
|Here is the latest on the future of USFK according to Defense Secretary Mattis:
U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis says the fate of U.S. Forces Korea is not an issue to discuss with North Korea.
Mattis, who is attending the Asia Security Summit in Singapore, said the issue is not on the table for the North Korea-U.S., nor should it be.
He also vowed efforts to achieve complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization(CVID) of the Korean Peninsula.
During a speech at the security summit on Saturday, he said the U.S. will support unrelenting diplomatic efforts for this aim.
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo also spoke at the summit and said the South will not pursue North Korea’s collapse or Korean unification through absorption or any artificial means, and vowed to gradually ease inter-Korean military tensions. [KBS World News]
You can read more at the link.
Looks like a bit of a shakeup is taking place north of the border just before Trump and Kim have their big Singapore meeting:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korea-replaces-three-top-military-leaders-yonhap-news-agency-reports/
It looks like there is a shift towards younger leaders. The outgoing Ri Myong Su is 84, his replacement Ri Yong Gil is 63.
Yeah, I’m taking that one with a large grain of salt, thanks. It would be nice to see a real change, but as has been discussed here, so far it’s been all style, no substance…
~Scoops McGee