Background of N. Korea`s demand for U.S. troop pullout

It is not the first time for North Korea to demand the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea. The North has persistently voiced for a U.S. troop pullout through its state-run media since the South Korea-U.S. summit Mar. 8, claiming that no foreign forces should intervene in the Korean unification issue.

What is noteworthy about the Rodong Shinmun commentary Monday is that Pyongyang linked the American forces pullout to arms reduction. The North seemed to have reacted upon the stern policies of the South and the United States. Since the March summit, South Korean and U.S. military officials stressed, pointing at the North`s military threat, that the North`s conventional arms and weapons of mass destruction should be cut for the progress in Seoul-Pyongyang and Pyongyang-Washington relations.

The North has condemned the U.S. taking issue with the North`s military capabilities and called arms reduction a ``scheme of U.S. imperialist invaders to completely disarm the Republic (North Korea) and kill it.``

Prof. Koh Yu-Hwan of the Department of North Korean study at Dongguk University also said that the North`s latest demand is apparently designed to counter the U.S. offensives seeking the reduction of the North`s conventional arms.

At the same time, Pyongyang pointed out that the American forces remain an element that heightens tension on the Korean peninsula, while the President George W. Bush administration is taking a hawkish policy on North Korea. Such a North Korean claim is interpreted as aimed at pressuring the United States and having international society believe that the American forces stationed in South Korea remain a stumbling block in the way of inter-Korean reconciliation and peace settlement on the peninsula, as well.

However, the North`s claim that ``the U.S. forces pullout is the prerequisite to arms reduction`` is totally against the (South Korean) government`s plan to discuss the issue of building an inter-Korean military trust in the second South-North summit and defense ministers` talks. Therefore, the question might become a major obstacle to the progress in inter-Korean ties in the days to come.

The envisioned ``separation of roles`` between South Korea and the United States on arms reduction issue is likely to hit a snag. The theory has Seoul`s handling the convention arms issue and Washington`s tackling the issue of missiles and weapons of mass destruction as disclosed by President Kim Dae-Jung in his summit with President Bush.

Ha Tae-Won scooop@donga.com