U.S. Decides Reinforcement in the Korean Peninsula

Regardless of Iraq invasion, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has decided to augment their forces in Korean Peninsula. This is an act to put out a message that U.S. can still mobilize a powerful military presence in Asia, according to announcement in the Wall Street Journals on February 3rd.

This is a response to the reinforcement request by Admiral Thomas Fargo, commander of U.S. Pacific Forces Command (reference to front page headline-February 3rd. of our newspaper). According to the Journal, the size of the reinforcement is yet to be determined.

The Times’ article says that today Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense is going to decide on the issue of sending aircraft carrier, USS Calvinson to the Pacific if aircraft carrier, USS Kitty Hawk is sent out from Japan to the Gulf area.

The Washington Post has announced that these measures are first evident proof that DOD is still optioning a military solution to settle the North Korea’s nuclear issue. The Post has also mentioned that recently, the Bush administration has unofficially brief the congress about North Korea. In their report, North Korea is definitely stockpiling a nuclear arsenal and within 3 to 6 months, they will have sufficient materials to build 3 to 5 more nuclear weapons.

The Newsweek, in their latest issue (February 10th), has quote from an U.S. government official. There is possibility when U.S. launches their military strike on Iraq, North Korea would probably resume their missile experiment within 5 to 8 days of American strike.

Meanwhile on 2nd, Mohamed El Baradei, Secretary General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced that in the upcoming IAEA special council, the North Korea nuclear issue is likely to be submitted to the UN Security Council.

sechepa@donga.com