SOUTH KOREA: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meets his South Korean counterpart to discuss security issues

Record ID: 184735

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meets his South Korean counterpart to discuss security issues
  • Date: 21st October 2005
  • Summary: MORE OF RALLY (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVABU7J5HL81S8SZM2IA5243FU4G
  • Story Text: U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld held talks on Friday (October 21) with long-time ally South Korea, which is eager to take on a greater role defending the peninsula half a century after a bitter war with the communist North.
    Rumsfeld visited Seoul's National Cemetery in the rain and attended an annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) between the two countries after the guard of honour ceremony.
    About a dozen South Korean civic group members outside the ministry held an anti-U.S. rally protesting over the U.S. policy of strategic flexibility and demanding the U.S. transfer wartime control to South Korea.
    "I am sure Rumsfeld's idea of the strategic flexibility will be a huge threat to the peace and stability of the Northeast Asia as the six-party talks agreed on as well as the peace on the Korean peninsula," said Oh Hye-ran.
    Rumsfeld said on Monday (October 17) he was prepared to discuss ways to continue building on the "strong, but evolving" alliance between the United States and South Korea.
    It was not clear if the United States would agree to Seoul's desire to take on wartime control-- but that decision lies with the U.S. military through a Combined Forces Command set up after the 1950-53 Korean War.
    South Korean defence officials have said they would seek to at least begin discussions on transferring wartime command when the defence chiefs met for their annual security talks.
    The U.S. military has not officially commented on the South's plan, but the top U.S. military official based in Seoul said the defence mechanism of the Korean peninsula was unlikely to change in the near future.
    The United States has about 34,000 troops reinforcing the South's 690,000 troops. North Korea with its 1.2-million army is the world's most militarised country relative to population.
    Rumsfeld was scheduled to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon after talking with Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung and other military officials. The two defence officials were scheduled to brief reporters later.
    He arrived in South Korea on Thursday night and will continue his trip, which began in China on Tuesday (October 18), to Mongolia and Kazakhstan over the weekend.
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