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By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
South Korea agreed with the United States Friday to take over 49 percent of a stockpile of U.S. reserve munitions in South Korea in a deal that may be worth nearly 2.5 trillion won in book value.
The 259,000 munitions to be sold to South Korea include air-to-surface missiles, mortars and ammunition for tanks and artillery, officials said. The United States will remove the remaining 260,000 tons of munitions by 2020.
The two allies signed the agreement at the annual meeting between Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, dubbed the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), in Washington D.C.
The deal came one day after the two countries agreed to enhance joint defense capabilities to counter North Korea’s military threats, expressing concerns that the communist regime was stepping up efforts to improve the performance of its short-range missiles. Initiated in 1974 in South Korea, the U.S. War Reserves Stockpile for Allies (WRSA) program has allowed Washington to retain stockpiles of munitions and other equipment here to ensure swift support for the combined forces of the two allies in time of war. The U.S. enacted a law at the end of 2005 to terminate the program by either shipping the munitions back to the United States or selling them to South Korea.
On Thursday, senior military officials of the two countries held the 30th Military Committee Meeting (MCM), Thursday and discussed the North’s nuclear and missile threats, the health condition of its leader Kim Jongil and other security issues of mutual concern, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry.
“Seoul and Washington agreed to push for the transfer of wartime operational control as scheduled and strengthen cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s military ambitions,” a ministry spokesman said. “The U.S. warned the North is engaging in efforts to improve its shortrange missiles. Both countries agreed the North’s missile development could be a serious security threat to Northeast Asia.”
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