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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| U.S. Nukes to Return to South Korea |
| 2006-10-20 |
| Seoul and Washington will add use of nuclear arms by U.S. forces in response to North Korean atomic weapons in a joint operation strategy codenamed OPLAN 5027, sources said Thursday. That would mean the return of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea 15 years after they were pulled out in 1991. At the 28th Military Committee Meeting (MCM) between the allies, Gen. Lee Sang-hee, the chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff met his U.S. counterpart Gen. Peter Pace in Washington on Wednesday. The two mandated U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Burwell Bell to draw up plans for the U.S. provision of a nuclear umbrella for South Korea in the wake of the North’s nuclear test, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. "We asked for a detailed guarantee of a nuclear umbrella to guard against North Korea's nuclear weapons, and the U.S. agreed,” said Rear Adm. Ahn Ki-seok, chief of the JCS' strategic planning department. “Strategic guidelines were given to the USFK commander immediately to come up with plans to provide a nuclear umbrella for us." The USFK commander is likely to include his plan for tactical nuclear weapons in a “nuclear appendix” to OPLAN 5027 rather than draw up a separate Combined Forces Command plan for military preparedness against nuclear threats, sources said. "The U.S. nuclear umbrella plans will be laid out in more detail and depth in a joint statement after the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Friday," Ahn said. Meanwhile, the U.S. said analysis of satellite data showed signs of Pyongyang's preparing a second nuclear test such as digging at three sites, including Punggye-ri in North Hamgyeong Province where the first test took place, and movement at military bases to launch Rodong and Scud missiles, according to the sources. The U.S. also said Pyongyang's first nuclear test was either a partial success or a near failure, they added. On the issue of Washington handing over wartime operational control of Korean troops to Seoul, the two chairmen signed off on “changes in the command structure'” that would dismantle the CFC and instead set up a Military Cooperation Center but failed to agree the most contentious issue, namely when that will happen. Instead, they proposed the question should be addressed by the two countries’ defense chiefs at the SCM on Friday. "Washington still aims for 2009 and Seoul for 2012 for the handover of wartime operation control, and it is highly likely that the SCM will fail to produce agreement as well,” a Defense Ministry official said. |
| Posted by:john |
| #12 In the 1980's REAGAN had a doctrine labeled FLEXIBLE RESPONSE, which was intended to keep the USSR-WARPACT off-balance by making the Soviet-Commie Generals, Admirals, + Politburo unsure as to whether the USA andor US-led NATO would immediately escalate any conventional forces battle in the FULDA GAP, etc. into all-out nuclear war. Unknown to most of the free world at the time, the USSR prior to FLEXIBLE RESPONSE already had plans in place to use massive amounts of tactical nukes + Limited/Selective ICBM strikes in any first-strike against defending US-NATO forces. IOW, while mainstream NATO Pols + Commanders were arguing back and forth about how to fight a DEFENSIVE conventional-only battle against the USSR-WARPACT, the USSR had already changed the dimension of any NATO-PACT conflict into OFFENSIVE NUKLAAR. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-10-20 23:20 |
| #11 Um Shieldwolf all I got to say is "HUH?". The Chinese know virtually nothing about our tac nuke capability as does most of the world because we simply havent deployed any for the past 10-15 years period. Tac nukes means we're going back to GLCM and Pershing II/ATACM type systems with ranges exceeding or meeting INF restrictions (which will go to hell in a hand basket if the Russians really do decide to trash their end of the treaty because they see the ABM shield we're developing as unfair). This potentially puts China right smack dab in the middle of a 5-10 minute nuke response time against even the US. Not a good place to be dontcha think? |
| Posted by: Valentine 2006-10-20 22:09 |
| #10 M.A.D....can we say D.E.T.E.N.T.E..now? Good, boys and girls!! |
| Posted by: smn 2006-10-20 21:55 |
| #9 Hey, Shieldwolf...I hadda read it twice, but I think I gottit now. In roadway design, somethimes "it's so dangerous that it's safe". Like mutually assured destruction, I guess. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-10-20 21:52 |
| #8 Actually, tactical nukes on site in Korea is much better for us than the threat of us having to use ICBMs to respond to a NKor nuke attack : the Chinese know all about our tac nukes, their delivery systems, and range limitations. So a tac nuke response is not going to be a worry about losing Bejing in retaliation for a nuke on American troops in the Pusan area. If we use Peacekeepers or Tridents, there is always that possibility for the Politboro to worry about. So in a weird way, US tac nukes are more reassuring to the Chinese than us not having them in the area. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-10-20 21:35 |
| #7 I demur on So. Korea, given the increasingly left slant of their politics. |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-10-20 21:30 |
| #6 Better still would be a S. Korea with its own nuclear weapons. Ditto for Japan and Taiwan. If China wants to proliferate they should be made to live with the consequnces. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2006-10-20 21:19 |
| #5 Oops, I in rearry deep doo doo now! |
| Posted by: Dear Reader 2006-10-20 20:42 |
| #4 nice job, Kim, asshole |
| Posted by: Hu Jintao 2006-10-20 20:40 |
| #3 The tactical nuclear weapons (including artillery) would presumably be used to hit massed North Korean troops comming across the border. |
| Posted by: FeralCat 2006-10-20 20:13 |
| #2 Parking nuclear weapons on China's doorstep is a perfect response to their complicity in Kim's ongoing Atomic Tantrum™. It leaves the unspoken and equally unsettling message that they might become permanent fixtures in the equation. The communist Mandarins should be up to a pucker factor of about 7.5 right about now. Add another whole point when we have nuclear equipped forces docked in Japan and Taiwan. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-10-20 19:49 |
| #1 Amusing saber rattling considering how easily we can already nuke North Korea any day we need to. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-10-20 19:48 |