북한의 핵무기 개발프로그람을 끝내기위한 신속한 외교적 노력이, 몇개월전만 해도 동북아시아에서는 상상할수도 없었던, 지금 활발하게 토론되고 있다. 즉 한국주둔 미군의 규모를 줄이겠다는 내용이다.
주한 미군주둔은 한국전이 끝난 1953년도 부터 한국을 북의 공산당 정권으로 부터 보호해주는 방어벽 역활을 지난 65년간 철통처럼
해왔었다. 이보호벽이라는 안전장치속에서 남한은 경제적으로 기적일 정도로 성공을 거두어 오늘의 한국이 있게 해주는데 큰 역활을 한
것이다.
지난주
남북한간 정상회담을 하면서, 남북간의 휴전 협정을 평화협정으로 변경해서 한반도에서 전쟁을 종식시키자는 의견이 오간 현실앞에서,
트럼프 대통령은 해외주둔 미군의 병력 수준, 특히 한국주둔 미군병력을 현수준에서 계속 유지해야 하는지에 대해서 심도있게 생각해
봐야 할 시점이 됐음을 문제점으로 제시하고 있다.
지난 11월, 트럼프 대통령이 미군, 한국군 병력과 남한의 Camp Humphrey기지에서 담소하면서, 한국을 비롯한 지구촌에 파견된 미군부대의 유지비에 대한 문제점들을 공개적으로 지적하고 있다.
앞으로 수주안에 있게될 트럼프와 김정은간에 평화와 북한의 비핵화를 협의하기위한 정상회담을 앞두고, 트럼프 대통령은 국방장관에게
한국주둔 미군병력의 감축에 대한 연구를 해볼것을 지시했었다고 한반도문제에 대한 전문가들은 설명하고 있다.
"한국인들은
그래도 주한미군들이 없이 사는것 보다는 차라리 북한의 핵무기를 머리에 이고 사는게 훨씬 좋다. 만약에 미군이 한국에서 떠나면
우리는 미국인들이 우리를 지켜줄것이라는 증거를 완전히 잃어 버리게 된다. 또한 우리는 전쟁이 발발할 경우, 우리가 이길수 있다는
확신을 동시에 잃어 버리게 되는 것이다."라고 예비역 3성장군 신원식씨는 미군주둔을 강조한다.
지난 금요일 한반도에서 미군감축 가능성에 대한 얘기들이 서서히 외교가에서 들려오기 시작한 것이다.
와싱턴에서
미디아와의 회견에서 트럼프 대통령은 북한의김정은과 만나게될 날자와 장소가 마침내 결정됐다. 그자세한 내용은 곧 발표될
예정이다. 그리고 국제 항공 Route를 관장하는 UN소속의 항공관리부는 발표하기를, 항공관리부 책임자가 다음주에 북한을
방문해서 한국행 항공기의 국제항로를 북한 상공을 직바로 날을수 있도록 하기위한 협상을 하게 된다고 밝혔다.
지난 금요일 문재인 대통령은 주한미군 감축에대한 얘기가돌자, 특히 나이드신분르로부터 비난이 쏟아지자, 미국이 주한미군을 감축하겠다는 뉴스는완전히 믿을수 없는 낭설일뿐이다라고 해명하느라 바쁜하루를보냈다고한다.
주한 미군을 파견한 미국의 대통령이 상황의 변화에 따라 미군 감축을 연구해 보라는 지시를 내렸고, 북미 정상회담의 의제로 올려질수도있는 현상황을 왜 문재인 대통령은 완전 낭설이라고 설명했을까?라는 의심을 저버릴수 없었다. 미국에서 나온 뉴스그대로 한국민들에게 설명못하고, 확 잘라서 낭설이라고 말한 그진의를 한국인들은 깊이 생각해 보아야 할 과제다.
아래 기사를 보시면 더 자세한 내용을 알수 있다.
Trump’s Talk of U.S. Troop Cuts Unnerves South Korea and Japan
SEOUL,
South Korea — With diplomacy moving apace to end North Korea’s nuclear
weapons program, Northeast Asia is bracing for something few had thought
likely just months ago: a reduction or withdrawal of American troops
from South Korea.
These
forces have been the bedrock of the 65-year-old alliance between Seoul
and Washington since the 1950-53 Korean War, serving as a bulwark
against North Korean aggression and preserving a shaky peace that
allowed South Korea to build its economy into a global powerhouse.
Now
their presence is being questioned by President Trump, who is skeptical
of maintaining a costly American military presence overseas, and by
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who called last week for a peace
treaty formally ending the Korean War.
As
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim prepare to meet within the next few weeks to
discuss peace and an end to North Korea’s nuclear program, Mr. Trump has
ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for reducing the number of American troops in the South, according to several people briefed on the deliberations.
The
news jolted South Korea and Japan, where many are deeply skeptical
about Mr. Kim’s reported vow to negotiate away his nuclear weapons and
fear that Mr. Trump’s “America-first” diplomacy will leave them fending
for themselves as China asserts its military prowess.
“For
South Korea, living with a nuclear-armed North Korea is much better
than living without American troops,” said Shin Won-sik, a retired
three-star South Korean general. “If they are gone, we will lose proof
that the Americans will defend us. We will lose confidence that if war
breaks out, we can win.”
The
possibility of a troop reduction emerged as other signs of diplomatic
progress on the Korean Peninsula were reported on Friday.
In
Washington, Mr. Trump told reporters that a time and place for his
meeting with Mr. Kim had been set, and that details would be announced
soon. And the United Nations aviation agency, which governs
international air routes, said its directors would visit North Korea
next week to discuss the possibility of opening routes to South Korea.
In
Seoul, President Moon Jae-in moved quickly Friday to calm jitters about
an American troop reduction, especially among older conservatives, who
consider the United States military’s presence a sacrosanct symbol of
national security and are deeply skeptical of Mr. Kim’s intentions. Mr.
Moon’s office said news that the White House was considering drawing
down troops was “not true at all.”
“The
Moon government doesn’t want the focus of public attention to move from
the denuclearization of North Korea to the withdrawal of U.S. troops
yet, which is such a political hot potato,” said Lee Byong-chul, senior
fellow at the Institute for Peace and Cooperation in Seoul. “But if a
peace treaty is signed, the U.S. troops are bound to peter out. Much of
the reason they are staying here will be gone.”
Conservatives
in South Korea bristle at such a possibility, arguing that a withdrawal
would expose their country to potential foes far stronger than North
Korea, like China and Japan, which have invaded numerous times over the
centuries. South Koreans reacted to Washington’s past efforts to pull
out troops with calls for arming the country with nuclear weapons of its
own.
Although
South Korea’s navy and air force are superior to the North’s, North
Korea has a much bigger army, including stockpiles of chemical and
nuclear weapons and huge batteries of artillery, rockets and missiles
that could hit Seoul, a city of 10 million people.
For
decades, the American military has protected South Korea and Japan
under its nuclear umbrella, and it shares high-tech military
surveillance and conducts annual joint war games preparing for any
conflict.
For many in the region, giving up that protection is an unsettling prospect, even if peace comes to the peninsula.
“The
reason foreign investors stay in South Korea, and its stock market
doesn’t panic even when China’s military prowess grows and North Korea
conducts its nuclear weapons, is because of the U.S. military presence
here,” said Mr. Shin, who was the South Korean military’s top
operational strategist before he retired in 2015.
“If
they shake the alliance for the sake of denuclearizing North Korea,” he
added, “we will have an economic crisis before a security crisis.”
Mr.
Trump’s reported directive came as Seoul and Washington were
negotiating to decide how much more South Korea should pay than the $800
million a year it is currently paying for the 28,500 United States
troops here. Mr. Trump wants a bigger burden-sharing from Seoul, which
has resisted.
Trump
administration officials say a full troop withdrawal is unlikely. They
say that rethinking the force’s size and configuration was overdue, and
that they want to see if a smaller force can provide adequate security.
The
fate of the American troops has become one of the most delicate points
of discussion as the two Koreas, the United States and China engage in
fast-paced diplomacy over how to end the North’s nuclear weapons
program.
South
Korean officials say North Korea is not insisting on a pullout of
American troops during the latest round of negotiations with Seoul and
Washington. They say they want the troops to stay as a regional
stabilizer even if a peace treaty is signed.
In
past negotiations, North Korean officials told their South Korean and
American counterparts that they could support the United States military
presence in South Korea if Washington and Pyongyang normalized ties and
the troops served a “peacekeeping role” to prevent China from becoming a
dominant military power in the region.
A
troop withdrawal could send a bad signal to Japan, where about 50,000
American military service members are based, analysts said.
“Across
the waters in Japan, I think it’s going to be read very, very poorly
and really make the Japanese anxious about what exactly are the U.S.
commitments” in the region, said Jeffrey Hornung, a political scientist
at the RAND Corporation.
Under
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has stepped up its own show of
military force, and Mr. Abe has sought to revise the pacifist clause in
the country’s Constitution. On Thursday, he released a video message
calling for amending it to make explicit the legality of the country’s
Self-Defense Forces, as Japan’s military, which has about 225,000 active
members, is known.
On Friday Mr. Abe’s office called American forces “essential” for the security of the region.
If
Mr. Trump were to succeed in pulling troops from the Korean Peninsula,
it could embolden Mr. Abe to push through a constitutional change while
citing the reduced American military presence in the region.
The
Japanese public has long opposed any constitutional change and on
Thursday, thousands of people protested the idea in Tokyo. But recent
polls show opinion is increasingly divided.
Ichiro Fujisaki, a former Japanese ambassador to Washington, struck a moderate tone.
He
said “the U.S. presence is more symbolic than really there to fight
against North Korea,” given the strength of the South Korean military
and the fact that North Korea’s missiles are a bigger threat than an
actual invasion.
Mr.
Fujisaki added that as long as the Trump administration consulted the
Japanese and South Korean governments about its plans, “it’s not that
big a concern.”
China
has long wanted American troops to leave South Korea, and analysts
there said a drawdown — or complete withdrawal — could drastically
reshape the balance of power in the region.
“The
end of American troops in South Korea may indicate the beginning of the
dissolution of the U.S. alliance in the Asia-Pacific,” said Cheng
Xiaohe, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in
Beijing. “If the American alliance system was gone, China would be
greatly relieved.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/world/asia/south-korea-troop-withdrawal-united-states.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fasia&action=click&contentCollection=asia®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfronthttp://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2018/05/04/2018050400864.html
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