[USFK Forums] US and S. Korea can defeat North: US General [Reuters]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Saturday, February 4, 2006

US and S.Korea can defeat North: US general

By Jon HerskovitzFri Feb 3, 7:16 AM ET

Seoul (Reuters) - U.S. and South Korean forces could defeat North Korea's army, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Friday, but figuring out the secretive state's military policy is a difficult challenge.

The United States has about 30,000 troops in South Korea working with about 690,000 South Korean troops. North Korea has most of its million-strong military positioned near the fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the peninsula.

"We are fully capable today of defeating any North Korean aggression and we will maintain that capacity," General Peter Pace told reporters.

Pace said that, in defining a threat, the United States looked at the capability and capacity of a potential enemy as well as how they intended to use their military strength.

"Understanding the intent of the North Korean regime is very difficult," Pace said.

"Not knowing what their intent is, you need to be prepared to counter if their intent is ill."

U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte told a U.S. Senate committee on Thursday North Korea and Iran "have the highest collection priority throughout the intelligence community" because of their nuclear ambitions and the possibility they could be involved in proliferation.

North and South Korea remain technically at war because the two sides who agreed the truce that halted the 1950-1953 Korean War never followed up with a formal peace treaty.

Regional powers are trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear programs in return for aid and security guarantees.

North Korea made progress on one military matter on Friday, saying in talks with South Korea it would resume discussions at military general level on measures to reduce tensions between the armies that face each other across the DMZ.

Washington is reducing its troop numbers in South Korea, in part because of greater overall commitments elsewhere, such as Iraq, but both U.S. and South Korean officials say the deterrent value of the U.S. force on the peninsula remains crucial.

Pace said the United States was drawing down its troops in Iraq from the total of about 160,000 deployed there for last December's elections. "We will be down probably in the 130-135,000 range within about a month," Pace said.

The Pentagon said in late January there were about 136,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

On China, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday in Washington that the Pentagon was seeking to dissuade Beijing from building its military forces to a level not warranted by its security needs.

Pace did not speak directly about those concerns but said he thought Washington and Beijing would have deep and peaceful ties as their economies became more intertwined.

"As we continue to build the economic bridges between the two countries, and as each country becomes more and more dependent on the other for their economic prosperity, when you do that, you lessen significantly the probability of military confrontation," he said.

Pace was in South Korea for the change of command of U.S. Forces Korea. That person also leads the U.N. Command and the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command. ROK is short for Republic of Korea, or South Korea. General Leon LaPorte, who has served as commander since May 2002, turned over his command to General B.B. Bell, III.



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