SK pressures USA on command control

The US and South Korea have agreed to speed up talks on giving Seoul greater control over its armed forces, which operate in joint command with the US.

The two sides said they would speed up discussions on "command relations and wartime... control".

Currently, a US general would command the joint forces in any future conflict, with North Korea for example.

Many South Koreans see regaining the wartime operational control of their military as an issue of national pride.

The control of troops issue dates back to the Korean war, when South Korea put the operational control of its forces under the US-led UN command.

South Korea took back the peace-time control of its troops in 1994, but the wartime control is still in the hands of the most senior US general in the country.

Earlier this month, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun said he wanted more control over South Korean forces in wartime.

A BBC correspondent says the alliance is coming under increasing strain, but that Seoul says it is still committed to a strong relationship with the US.

Shifting role

The announcement came in a joint statement issued by US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Kwang-ung, after they held an annual defence meeting on Friday.

It did not say when the talks would begin, or how soon South Korea might be ready to assume wartime control.

Mr Rumsfeld, who also met President Roh, said he welcomed South Korea's efforts to "take on more responsibility".

"Today, we see the relationship between our two countries evolving," he said.

But Mr Rumsfeld and other US officials played down the chances of the US giving up control soon.

Mr Rumsfeld and Mr Yoon also discussed North Korea, and said they hoped the military threat from Pyongyang would diminish as a result of six-party talks on its nuclear programme.

However, they said they were concerned about the North's "continued development of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, along with the danger of proliferation of those weapons, and technologies".

The BBC's Charles Scanlon in Seoul says there have been tensions over how best to deal with the nuclear threat from the North.

Polls suggest that many South Koreans see the US as a bigger threat to peace than the North.

The US is also restructuring its troop presence in Asia, as part of a plan to become more agile, and intends to withdraw a third of its troops from South Korea by the end of 2008.

The US, which has had a military presence in South Korea since the end of World War II, currently has about 37,000 troops in the country, to complement the South's own force of 690,000.

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S. Korea pushes for Russian helicopter purchase

New Kamov KA-32 choppers would support the marines in transition of wartime
operational control

The Kamov KA-32, which the Korean military is hoping to purchase from Russia
to support operations related to the transfer of wartime operational control
from the United States to South Korea.

The South Korean military is pushing for its plan to buy 32 Kamov (KA-32)
helicopters from Russia at a date earlier than anticipated to support
landing and infiltration operations for marines ahead of the planned
takeover of wartime operational control from the United States.

A military source said on June 16, "To cope with the retake of wartime
operational control, the military recently allocated 930 billion won (US$894
million) to buy 32 helicopters for landing operations for the Marine Corps,
by changing the project to an urgent demand from a long-term one."

The budget was included in a mid-term defense plan set between 2009 and
2013. If the Defense Acquisition Program Administration announces the
results of its feasibility study, the project to buy helicopters for the
marines would start from 2013 and be completed by 2019, as opposed to the
previous deadline of late 2020.

The aircrafts are expected to be deployed in Dokdo-class amphibious assault
ships (Landing Platform Helicopter) or landing ships (Landing Ship Tank). In
case of emergency, the helicopters are optimized to fly the marines through
the sky to infiltrate enemy territory, allowing the Marine Corps to conduct
landing operations both ashore and in mid-air. At present, the Marine Corps
has no aircraft battalion and could exercise air-infiltration operations
with the help of Army helicopters, so the project has been cited as the top
priority for the Marine Corps.

Regarding the helicopter models to be used in the project, the Navy and the
Joint Chiefs of Staff are moving to buy 32 Kamov KA-32 helicopters from
Russia via a loan repayment program known as The Third Brown Bear Business.
Since April, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have been in negotiations with
Russian after having placed the KA-32 model on top of its wish list of
things to bring from Russia as part of the repayment program.

However, some military and defense industry officials oppose the deployment
of Russian helicopters, saying it could pose a negative impact to another
military plan to develop its own attack helicopters. They also say that it
will cost a great deal to remodel the aircrafts because the KA-32
helicopters were developed to meet civilian aviation needs. An official at a
defense technology company said, "In 2012, South Korea will start mass
production of the Korean-style utility helicopter. If foreign helicopters
were deployed, it would cost some 1 trillion won in lost sales."

In order to develop devices that are protected against salt-induced erosion,
and remodel them into foldup helicopters that can be carried by the
Dokdo-class assault ships, a significant amount of time and money would be
needed. The Korea Forest Service and an Air Force battalion, both of which
have already used the KA-32 choppers, were believed to have conveyed the
opinion that the "KA-32 costs two or three times more in terms of
maintenance than helicopters from Western countries because of its short
replacement cycle for parts and high fuel consumption level."

Another worrisome issue is that it may be difficult to identify an enemy
combatant during joint operations between South Korean and U.S. forces
because North Korea also owns the Russian helicopters.

In response, a military official said, "The introduction of the KA-32 is an
issue under consultation with Russia. It has not been given final
confirmation."

Please direct questions or comments to [[email protected]]

Why buy Kamov? It's clearly an inferior helicopter, and a purchase from Russia is only going to annoy the US. Moreover why include Russian helicopters in the inventory when SK already has dozens of US produced Blackhawks and Seahawks? I think that this deal will fall through, and instead be awarded to Sikorsky.