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STRATFOR.com
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Implications of Changing U.S. Force Structure in Korea
March 13, 2002
Summary
The United States will deploy an Interim Brigade Combat Team to South Korea by 2007, according to South Korean media. The new force -- more powerful than light infantry and more mobile than heavy armor -- is ideal both for Korea's mountainous and urban terrain and for regional deployments. The shift in U.S. force structure on the Korean peninsula allows greater flexibility for the troops based there, and it may reveal some shifts in Washington's perception of the North Korean threat.
Image Credit: Stratfor.com.
Analysis
The United States Forces in Korea (USFK) will deploy an Interim Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) to South Korea by 2007, according to South Korean media sources. Citing domestic defense sources, the Korea Times and Chosun Ilbo indicated that the IBCT, a highly mobile force, would replace one of the 2nd Infantry Division's two brigades already deployed in Korea.
The Korean IBCT reportedly would comprise 3,700 troops, 40 armored carriers mounting 105-mm guns, 130 armored fighting vehicles and 20 self-propelled guns. All equipment is readily transportable in C-130 transport aircraft. The purpose of an IBCT in general is to fill the gap between the time light infantry arrives on a battlefield and the time heavy-armor forces reach the area. The IBCT is more powerful than the former and significantly more mobile than the latter. In the Korean context, this shift in U.S. force configuration reveals changes in Washington's attitude toward security threats in the Asia-Pacific region.
The idea of replacing a USFK brigade in Korea with a newer, more mobile IBCT has been around for well over a year. Not only would the new brigade allow greater mountain and urban fighting capabilities to Washington's Korean-deployed forces but it also would also be able to respond to other regional and even global contingencies. Since the end of the Cold War, concerns have grown that the 37,000 U.S. military personnel in Korea are locked down on the peninsula and cannot contribute to operations elsewhere.
(The Rest of the Story)
(c) 2001 Stratfor, Inc.
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Implications of Changing U.S. Force Structure in Korea . . .