[Editorial] S.K. under Heavy Burden of Guarding 155-mile Border Areas

South Korea and the United States yesterday agreed to transfer the guard duty at the truce village of Panmunjom from the U.S. forces in Korea to the Korean forces by early 2005 at the latest. As a result, the Korean forces will be solely responsible for the security along the 155-mile border with the North. This is the first time since the armistice was signed, and this is significant in that South Korea does not receive any help from the U.S. in defending its border with North Korea. In addition, eight certain missions will be transferred to South Korea from the U.S. forces, which could be seen as a positive sign in terms of self-reliance of national defense.

However, considering the current confrontation between the North and the South without a peace treaty signed, the transfer of guard duty in the Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom from the U.S. to South Korea cannot be seen as timely. Currently tensions are running high on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. In this context, for South Korea to solely take up the guard duty in the JSA is seen as not helpful to defusing the current crisis. If the North and the South meet face to face without the buffer of the U.S., which has been regarded as "tripwire," the possibility of confrontation, though accidentally, cannot but rise.

And the problem is that the U.S. pushed ahead with its plan to transfer the guard duty to the South Korean forces by 2005, though South Korea insisted that it should be done later than 2010. South Korea and the U.S. should give a satisfactory explanation on whether the time needed for South Korea’s self defense was considered in making this decision.

Relocation of the U.S. forces in Korea and change of its role is not an issue to be decided unilaterally by the U.S. If suspicions that the U.S. pushes big issues, including the relocation of the Yongsan garrison, unilaterally and the South just accepts them without doing anything spread, conflict between South Korea and the U.S. will be certain to grow.

The two sides should take a close review on whether the South has capabilities to do the guard duty solely along the border before transferring the duty. If not, they should prepare proper countermeasures. Only so, the reshuffle of the U.S. forces in Korea can be a win-win game for both South Korea and the U.S. and further, contribute to the peace on the Peninsula.