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Rumsfeld: U.S. may cut South Korea forces
WASHINGTON -- North Korea is a danger to the world, not just Northeast Asia, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says. Speaking Thursday to the U.S. Senate's Armed Servies Committee, Rumsfeld said the threat from North Korea came from its nuclear weapons and missile programs and its record of selling missile technology to other countries. "They sell almost anything," he said. "They're the world's greatest proliferator of weapons technology." Pyongyang is believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and could produce the nuclear material for at least six more in a short time. Rumsfeld also said Thursday he wanted to shift U.S. forces away from the fortified border between North and South Korea and perhaps remove some of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in the south, Reuters reports. He said no final plan had been developed for realignment of the long American military presence in the south, but that South Korea's President-elect Roh Moo-hyun had asked the United States to study the bilateral relationship. South Korea has been rocked by recent anti-American protests and the United States is seeking Seoul's help in resolving the crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. "For one thing, I would like to see a number of our forces move away from the Seoul area and from near the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), and be more oriented towards an air hub and a sea hub" in the area, Rumsfeld said. He did not say whether such large hubs for facilitating the easy movement of U.S. troops around the world might be inside or near South Korea, but added that "with our improved capabilities of moving people, some of those forces (could) come home." The U.S. military has kept a military presence in South Korea since the Korean War a half century ago. But that presence has become increasingly controversial in the past year, with some critics in the south accusing the Bush administration of hindering closer ties between Seoul and Pyongyang's hardline government in the north. The issue of alleged crimes committed by U.S. troops in the south has also become a subject of tension. Reuters contributed to this report.
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