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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SEOUL 001775
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR ECON KPAO KS US
SUBJECT: SEOUL - PRESS BULLETIN; November 6, 2009
TOP HEADLINES
-------------
Chosun Ilbo
"Free Economic Zones" Face Overhaul
JoongAng Ilbo
U.S. 8th Army Command to Remain Stationed in ROK
Dong-a Ilbo
Lawmakers Who Used Violence Going Unpunished
Hankook Ilbo
ROKG Considers Building Second Campus of
Seoul National University in Sejong City
Hankyoreh Shinmun
President Lee Pushes to Revise Sejong City Plan, Judging that Public
Opinion in Seoul Metropolitan Area Favors Changes
to the Plan
Segye Ilbo
Science Business Belt May Replace Sejong City
Seoul Shinmun
Prime Minister: "Sejong City's Self-Sufficiency Rate
Should Reach 20 Percent"
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
---------------------
According to a high-ranking military source, the U.S. Eighth Army
headquarters, the commanding unit of all U.S. Army forces stationed
in the ROK, has reversed its plan to move to Hawaii and will stay
put in the ROK. Furthermore, a new Korea Command unit (KORCOM) will
be set up next June to replace the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command
in 2012. (JoongAng)
The KORUS FTA will likely be high on the agenda for the upcoming
ROK-U.S. summit in Seoul, because President Lee is expected to urge
President Obama to get the bilateral trade deal ratified promptly.
(Dong-a)
Seoul will consider either freezing or cutting its greenhouse gas
emissions by 4 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. A source at the
Blue House said that the 4 percent cut plan will likely be adopted,
despite the business community's opposition. The ROKG will make a
final decision on Nov. 17. (All)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
-------------------
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters yesterday that
U.S.-North Korea talks are certain to be held at the end of this
year or early next year. (Chosun, Hankook, Hankyoreh, Segye, Seoul,
all TVs)
MEDIA ANALYSIS
--------------
-N. Korea
----------
Most ROK media covered yesterday's press remarks by Foreign Minister
Yu Myung-hwan, in which he said: "It will be difficult (for
U.S.-North Korea talks to be held) before President Barack Obama
visits Seoul from Nov. 18 -19. They will take place either at the
en of this year or early next year."
Conservative Chosun Ilbo ran an inside-page report from Washington
quoting Thomas C. Hubbard, chairman of the Korea Society, as saying
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in a Nov. 5 interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) that North Korean
officials, during a recent meeting in New York, expressed a
willingness to return to the Six-Party Talks if talks with the U.S.
are successful.
-USFK
------
Right-of-center JoongAng Ilbo front-paged a report citing a
high-ranking military source as saying that the U.S. Eighth Army
headquarters, the commanding unit of all U.S. Army forces stationed
in the ROK, has reversed its plan to move to Hawaii and will stay
put in the ROK. The report went on to say that a new Korea Command
unit (KORCOM) will be set up next June to replace the ROK-U.S.
Combined Forces Command in 2012 and that the KORCOM will be tasked
with defending the Korean Peninsula along with the ROK Joint Chiefs
of Staff.
In an accompanying inside-page report, JoongAng observed that this
U.S. about-face on its plan to move the Eighth Army headquarters to
Hawaii reflects the strategic importance of the Korean Peninsula to
the U.S. and that setting up the Korea Command would also attest to
the strategic place the ROK occupies in U.S. military planning.
FEATURES
---------
U.S. 8TH ARMY COMMAND TO REMAIN STATIONED IN KOREA
(JoongAng Ilbo, November 6, 2009, Pages 1, 4-5)
By Military Affairs Reporter Kim Min-seok
Plan to move to Hawaii put on ice as strategy changes
The U.S. Eighth Army headquarters, the commanding unit of all U.S.
Army forces stationed in the ROK, has reversed its plan to move to
Hawaii and will stay put in the ROK, the JoongAng Ilbo has learned.
Also, documents show the U.S. military will establish a new command
in South Korea to replace the current U.S.-South Korea combined
forces command after the wartime operational control is transferred
to South Korea in 2012.
According to a high-ranking military source, the headquarters will
not move to Hawaii as previously announced. Also, documents
obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo show that a new Korea Command Unit
(KORCOM) will be set up next June to replace the ROK-U.S. Combined
Forces Command in 2012.
A four-star general will be at the helm of the Korea Command, which
is expected to join six other unified combat commands for U.S.
forces, the documents show.
Currently the U.S. operates military commands, composed of forces
from at least two services, covering Africa, Europe, the Middle
East, Asia Pacific, Central America and North America. The Korea
Command will be responsible for Northeast Asia.
Once Americans' wartime operational control of South Korean troops
is transferred to Seoul, the Korea Command Unit will be tasked with
defending the Korean Peninsula along with the ROK Joint Chiefs of
Staff. The capabilities of the Korea Command will be tested in
drills in 2011 and 2012.
The documents said that in emergencies, the Korea Command will
control operations of U.S. forces in Korea, U.S. reinforcements and
some United Nations troops.
In carrying out operations, the Korea Command will follow strategic
guidelines determined by heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the
ROK and the U.S.
According to the documents, the U.S. Department of Defense plans to
reorganize the Eighth Army headquarters, which currently provide
SEOUL 00001775 003 OF 003
administrative support only, and turn it into a combat commanding
unit. The U.S. Army will add about 200 troops to the current Eighth
Army headquarters.
Another military source said the U.S. Army has set up a new
operational command post earlier this year near the front line. The
source explained that the move "was designed to ensure more
efficiency in ground operations on the Korean Peninsula."
The post will include more than 1,000 officers and soldiers and will
be evaluated in early 2010 and then in early 2011.
The size of the U.S. forces stationed in the ROK will be kept at
around 28,500. Once the new U.S. forces base is completed in
Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, in 2015, the current Eighth Army headquarters
and the second infantry division in Yongsan, central Seoul, will be
relocated there. The Pyeongtaek base is expected to host up to
71,000 U.S. troops and their families by 2020.
The U.S. about-face on its plan to move the Eighth Army headquarters
to Hawaii reflects the strategic importance of the Korean Peninsula
to the U.S. Setting up the Korea Command would also attest to the
strategic place the ROK occupies in U.S. military planning.
STEPHENS