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SCMP Reporter

South Koreans have reacted with alarm to Washington's plan  to withdraw about 3,600 troops  and redeploy them to Iraq, amid fears that it  could be part of a long-term move to downsize the US military presence in the country.

America  announced earlier this week that about 10 per cent of the 37,000 troops now  stationed in South Korea would be dispatched to boost US forces in war-torn Iraq.

Conservatives in South Korea have expressed fears that the redeployment signals a reduced US commitment.

'We still don't know whether these troops will return to Korea,' said Park Jin,  a leading member of the conservative opposition Grand National Party.

'If there was substantial prior dialogue about this plan that would be much better, but if not, there is serious concern that the alliance is not functioning,' Mr Park said.

This latest chapter in US-South Korean relations has refocused attention on the increasingly troubled ties between Seoul and  its closest ally.

US troops have been stationed in the South since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean civil war as a deterrent against the threat from communist North Korea.

'It is psychological. We have been relying on the US defence [forces] for five decades, so people worry that this redeployment will lead to a permanent withdrawal,' said Kim Sung-han,  an  analyst with  the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a government think-tank.

But in recent years, the US-South Korean alliance has been  strained with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun  pledging greater independence from the US and younger Koreans calling for closer ties with the  North.

'The core of this administration and much of its support base has, without end, acted in a way to weaken the Korea-US alliance, while outwardly continuing to stress the importance of said alliance,'  the  daily Chosun Ilbo said.

Defence analysts say  the global defence posture review being carried out by the US  is likely to result in a realignment of US troops in Asia, including South Korea.

'There is no guarantee that the US troops going to Iraq will return, but even if they don't come back, that isn't necessarily a major setback for the defence posture against North Korea,' Mr Kim said.

But Seoul has come under fire  for apparently agreeing to the redeployment with little prior public consultation, while the US decision has fuelled speculation that it  is linked  to delays in the  dispatch of South Korean troops to Iraq.

Seoul's plan to send  3,600 troops to the southern city of Kirkuk to help in the reconstruction of Iraq was shelved amid increasing violence in the region.



South Koreans fear American troop shift is start of downsizing