US Taps Walter L. Sharp New USFK Commander

WASHINGTON _ Lt. Gen. Walter L. Sharp, director of the Joint Staff, has been tapped as next commander of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), informed sources here said Monday.

Gen. Burwell Bell, the current USFK chief, indicated in a recent interview with U.S. military press that he plans to retire in the summer. He has been in Seoul since February 2006.

Sharp is said to have gained extensive experience and knowledge about South Korea when he served there between June 1996 and October 1998. He was executive officer to the commander of the USFK, who also serves as chief of the United Nations Command and the Combined Forces Command, and assistant division commander for the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division.

Approximately 28,000 American servicemen are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Sources said the U.S. is expected to formally announce Sharp's nomination soon, and that he may be able to assume the post between June and July.

Sharp graduated from the Military Academy and earned a master's degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in operations analysis and engineering. He has held his current post since August 2005.

(Yonhap)