Lee Lauds US Servicemen in Korea
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak Tuesday stressed the importance in the role of U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula as a stabilizing force in Northeast Asia, as well as a deterrent against North Korea.
During his visit to the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) headquarters in Seoul, Lee said the CFC was a symbolic structure of the alliance between Seoul and Washington, which he described boasts of one of the strongest combined defense readiness in the world.
ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, the official name of South Korea.
``I'd like to express thanks to the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) for their strong commitment to the security of the Korean Peninsula,'' the President-elect was quoted as saying during a meeting with USFK/CFC Commander Gen. B.B. Bell by his aides. ``The USFK's role is very important not only to achieve peace on the peninsula, but also to maintain security in Northeast Asia.''
The USFK now has about 27,000 troops to help deter any aggression from North Korea.
Lee and Bell discussed a range of issues to further improve the military alliance and combined defense position against the North, the aides said.
During the meeting, Bell, who concurrently serves as chief of the United Nations Command, presented a trophy depicting a Korean and U.S. soldier in recognition of Lee's efforts to strengthen the bilateral alliance.
The visit to the U.S. military compound was construed as part of Lee's efforts to cement ties with the country's staunchest ally, the United States.
The liberal Roh Moo-hyun government pushed for taking over wartime operational control of the South Korean military from the United States with the aim of building ``self-reliant'' defense capabilities.
The two governments agreed early last year on command rearrangement plans including the transfer of operational control in 2012 and the deactivation of the CFC.
Conservatives have been worried the transition of troop control authority could damage combined defense readiness, as well as weaken the two countries' ties.
Lee said earlier that the timing for the transfer of operational control should be rescheduled unless the North's nuclear and missile threat is substantially diminished.
Later in the day, the President-elect attended a meeting hosted by the Korea Veterans' Association in Seoul in an apparent move to highlight his policy priority on national defense.
Lee visited the Ministry of National Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff last week for the first time as a President-elect before inauguration.