Possibility of Transfer of U.S. Forces Was Reported

It has been verified that the Korean Ambassador to the U.S. reported “the possibility of readjustment” to the Korean government in mid-April, a month before being informed (May 14) of a transfer of U.S. Forces from Korea to Iraq according to the claims of Park Jin, congressional representative of the Grand National Party (GNP).

At a social gathering with Korean correspondents in Washington on May 25, Park claimed, “The government should open to the public what they discussed after the report of the information and what preparations they made.”

Park arrived at Washington on May 22 to meet James Kelly, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Richard Lawless, U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Asia Pacific policy, and will meet White House officials and Michelle Reith, Chief of the Policy Planning Section at the State Department.

Park said, “Regarding my question of whether the 2nd Brigade of the Army`s 2nd Infantry Division will return to Korea or not, the U.S. answered: ‘We don’t have any answers yet. We will decide on that through discussion with the Korean government.’”

He added, “The U.S. mentioned that it is not discussing with Korea about reduction or a pull out of U.S. forces in Korea.”

Soon-Taek Kwon maypole@donga.com