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North Korea Threats Coincide with U.S. Troop Withdrawal NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- North Korea's missile launches come at a time when the number of U.S. troops in South Korea and other nearby Asian nations is declining and the Pentagon has been focusing more on a potential threat from China.
As part of a worldwide realignment of American forces, the Pentagon is drawing down troops at some decades-old installations in Asia and the region's allies are taking more responsibility for their own defense. This has been accompanied by burgeoning U.S. naval strength in the Pacific.
Pentagon figures show just under 30,000 U.S. troops in South Korea, compared with 37,000 two years ago, with some troops being deployed instead to Iraq. In its biggest reorganization in two decades, the U.S. plans to bring down the number further to some 25,000 by 2008.
Even so, North Korea says its missile program is partly for self-defense against an American threat. Story Continues Below
"The irony here is that a fair amount of what (North Korea) used to complain about - the militarization of the Korean Peninsula - is being reduced," said analyst Dan Goure of the Lexington Institute think tank in Arlington, Va.
There is still plenty on which to base ongoing Washington-Pyongyang enmity. North Korea remains a member of President Bush's "axis of evil," which also included Iran and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Discussions among six nations - the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia - over North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been stalled since November after the U.S. put financial restrictions on Pyongyang for alleged currency counterfeiting and money laundering.
Bush has said he loathes North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and is appalled by the torture and starvation of his people. And before becoming U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton denounced Kim as a "tyrannical dictator," prompting a North Korean spokesman to say "such human scum" would be closed out of negotiations over the country's nuclear weapons program.
But as for U.S. military strength in eastern Asia, the plan is to break down large Cold War-era bases around the world, bring tens of thousands of uniformed personnel back to the United States and move some troops closer to potential hot spots so they can more quickly respond to conflicts.
At the same time, saying it has an eye on surges in China's defense spending, the Pentagon is trying to strengthen its Asia-Pacific force.
The Navy is putting a larger proportion of its submarine fleet in the Pacific, plans to add one aircraft carrier battle group in the region and is outfitting strategic missile submarines with non-nuclear cruise missiles. The Air Force has been improving its ability to deploy B-2 stealth bombers from Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific.
"We are deploying more naval forces, which is China oriented, and less air and land forces, which are the real threat to" North Korea, Goure said.
The Defense Department has made no secret of its increasing focus on China as a potential threat to stability in Asia and the Pacific. Pentagon officials have said often that China could reduce suspicions about its defense buildup if it would be more open about specifics such as the makeup of its defense budget and its nuclear forces.
The U.S. troop reduction in South Korea, where the U.S. has had a military presence since the Korean War, doesn't necessarily mean decreased military capabilities in the region.
"Part of the drawdown that you are seeing in Korea is because of South Korea's eagerness and willingness to assume more responsibility for their own security, which is a good thing," said Pentagon press secretary Eric Ruff.
Similar restructuring is afoot in Japan, where the most recent Defense Department statistics show about 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed, including more than 15,000 Marines and more than 13,000 airmen. It also is home port for the Navy's 7th Fleet.
The United States and Japan this year agreed to sweeping changes in the deployments there to realign and reduce U.S. troops in the country by 2014, while giving Japan's military greater responsibility for security in the Asia-Pacific region.
The plan includes moving about 8,000 Marines from the crowded Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam.
In another change, Japan and the United States announced last month that they'll deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on American bases in Japan for the first time, though it was unclear how soon. The two countries reached the accord after reports that Pyongyang was preparing to test ballistic missiles.
The largest U.S. military exercise in the Pacific since the Vietnam War was held last month, demonstrating to North Korea and other nations in the region the United States' ability to "quickly amass" a huge combat force should the need arise, Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula said at the time.
The five-day "Valiant Shield" exercises, which were planned long before the missile controversy arose, brought together an armada of three aircraft carriers and 25 other ships, along with 22,000 troops and 280 warplanes, off Guam.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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