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Rumsfeld confirms US commitment to maintain forces in South Korea

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his South Korean counterpart yesterday hailed a promise by North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, but expressed concern over its continued development of long-range missiles.

Rumsfeld also affirmed a US commitment to maintain a troop presence in South Korea, and bristled at a suggestion that South Koreans increasingly believe they would be better off without the US.

"The Republic of Korea, an impoverished and devastated nation over a half-century ago, now has one of the world's most powerful economies and is an important democracy with an increasingly capable armed force," Rumsfeld told a news conference following annual bilateral defense talks.

South Korea should therefore take on a greater responsibility for its own defense, but South Koreans should not dismiss the value of US support, Rumsfeld said.

"The US has invested the lives of many in helping the Republic of Korea to be free," he said in a joint appearance with South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung.

"We are a part of this alliance at the request of the Republic of Korea's government," he added.

In a statement issued after their talks, Rumsfeld and Yoon both welcomed North Korea's promise in six-party talks to abandon its development of nuclear weapons, but also added that concerns remain.

"Both sides noted that North Korea's continued development of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, along with the danger of proliferation of those weapons, are causes of significant concern," they said.

Rumsfeld and Yoon said they had agreed to "appropriately accelerate discussions on command relations and wartime operational control." Seoul has been seeking control of the joint command of US and South Korean troops here during wartime, which traditionally has been held by the US.

Rumsfeld said the US welcomes efforts by South Korea to "take on more responsibility," but reaffirmed Washington's "continued provision of a nuclear umbrella" to preserve the South's independence.

The Pentagon has begun pulling thousands of US troops out of South Korea, where it has maintained a contingent of about 37,000 troops for decades amid concerns that communist North Korea might attempt to reunite the two Koreas by launching an attack.
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