By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The U.S. government named Army Gen. Walter Sharp as the new commander of U.S. forces in South Korea, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Sharp, who has been the director of the Joint Staff at the U.S Department of Defense since 2005, will replace Gen. B. B. Bell, who concurrently serves as chief of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) and United Nations Command (UNC).
Sharp served here between 1996 and 1998 as an executive officer to the top U.S. commander in Korea and assistant division commander of the 2nd Infantry Division.
Sharp's appointment comes amid a major restructuring of the Korea-U.S. military alliance forged during the 1950-53 Korean War.
After several years of negotiations, Seoul and Washington last year agreed that Korean commanders would execute independent operational control of its armed forces during war beginning April 17, 2012.
Following the Korean War, South Korean military troops were placed under the control of the U.S.-led UNC. The authority was later transferred to the CFC.
The incoming Lee Myung-bak government wants to readdress the timing for the command transfer, while Washington is reluctant to do so.
About 28,000 American forces are stationed here as a deterrent against North Korea with 1.1 million armed forces. South Korea keeps 680,000 troops.