USFK and Korean officials are meeting today to define the future USFK role in Korea.
South Korean and U.S. officials will hold the first Security Policy Initiative meeting today at the Defense Ministry aimed at refining the alliance and the future role of U.S. military forces. South Korea is also forming a task force to study a possible regional role of the U.S. military’s forces stationed here, according to officials. South Korea is reportedly concerned that it could be unwillingly sucked into a conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan.
This is a very sensitive issue since it deals with whether we allow the Korean Peninsula to become a strategic global military base for U.S. forces,” said a government official. “It is closely linked to the future strategic situation of the Korean Peninsula and the alliance with the United States.”
The official added the government was considering allowing a regional role for U.S. forces here except in a conflict between China and Taiwan. Now, however, the government is studying all possible conflicts and what role it would play if the United States wanted to dispatch troops based here. Another government official warned the United States could drastically reduce its forces if South Korea doesn’t approve a regional role for them.
