US denies report on USFK families pullout
By Yi Whan-woo
The United States has no plans to pull out family members of American troops stationed in South Korea despite heightened tension on the peninsula, according to a Pentagon official.
U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Logan also told Yonhap News in an email interview Tuesday that Washington will keep its policy of having families accompany military members.
Logan virtually put aside U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) call for the U.S. to consider moving military dependents out of South Korea following North Korea’s third intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test, Nov. 29.
“The Department of Defense currently has no intent to initiate departures for military dependents, whether on a voluntary or mandatory basis, and no intent to modify the policy authorizing military dependents to accompany military members being stationed in South Korea,” Logan was quoted as saying.
He added the U.S. has “many contingency plans in place all over the world to keep our military families safe.”
During a CBS interview, Sunday, Graham urged the Pentagon to “start moving American dependents out of South Korea.”
He said the defense department should not send military dependents to here anymore, either.
The senator claimed South Korea should be an “unaccompanied tour” and it was “crazy” to send spouses and children.
Graham’s remarks further stirred up concerns over a possible military conflict on the peninsula, as he had previously warned of a pre-emptive strike in response to Pyongyang’s ICBM provocations.
Hours after the ICBM test, he told CNN that the U.S., if necessary, would “have to go to war to stop” North Korea and that the country is “headed toward a war if things don’t change.”
Meanwhile, Logan said the readiness, safety, and welfare of U.S. service members, employees and family members are essential to the strength of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
The U.S Forces Korea has regularly conducted mass evacuation drills of American civilians here. Up to 200,000 U.S. citizens including family members of 28,500 American troops reside in South Korea.
Such drills were recently misunderstood by South Koreans as a sign of a U.S. attack on North Korea after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly hinted at using military options against the Kim Jong-un regime.