[Page: S443]
- [Begin insert]
I have one key question--when will the Patriot missiles be operational in South Korea? This is more and more important, now that the United States has reportedly set February 22, 1994, as a deadline for North Korean agreement to international inspection of its nuclear facilities.
What will happen when that deadline is reached? North Korea apparently still views the use of force as a real policy option. If the United States seeks economic sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations, what will North Korea do? If North Korea makes a fatal mistake and attacks South Korea, will we be ready?
Remember, the limited antitactical ballistic missile capability of the PAC-2 model of the Patriot surface-to-air missile is the only antitactical ballistic missile capability we have. If it is not in place and operational in South Korea before any North Korean attack takes place, our troops and citizens in South Korea will be defenseless.
Let me briefly review the developments. First, a Reuter wire story printed in Friday's Washington Post entitled `S. Korea Says It will Accept U.S. Missiles,' datelined Seoul, South Korea, January 27, 1994, contained the following statement by a South Korean Foreign Ministry official:
The deployment of Patriot missiles has been discussed by Seoul and Washington for a long time as part of a plan to beef up our defense against possible North Korean attack. The plan will go ahead, though the size and the time of deployment have yet to be fixed between the two governments.
Later in the story, however, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Frank Wisner--
* * * stressed that the White House had not given a formal go-ahead [for the deployment].
Then, on Saturday, January 29, 1994, another Reuter wire story by Lee Su-wan, datelined Seoul, January 28, 1994, was printed in the Washington Post. Entitled `North Korea Denounces U.S. Missiles: Plan to Deploy Air-Defense Patriots Called `Military Challenge,' it quoted North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency as calling the installation of Patriot missiles an `unpardonable, grave military challenge.' The North Korean statement continued--
If the United States and its followers think they can subdue North Korea with pressure and threat, it is a big mistake. That method may lead the situation to a hopeless phase, far from resolving the problem.
The story contained additional information on South Korea's reaction. It said that South Korea's state radio and Yonhap news agency on Friday `quoted an unnamed government official as saying the container-like Patriot launchers would be deployed at U.S. military bases in March or April.'
Then, on Sunday, January 30, 1994, an Associated Press wire story datelined Tokyo, Japan, contained the following quotations from the official Workers Party--North Korean Communist Party--newspaper Rodong Sinmun, in a commentary broadcast by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, as monitored in Tokyo:
The United States and the South Korean authorities will have to take the full responsibility for the grave consequences to be entailed by their military steps. The latest move of the United States is a very dangerous act which can be seen only on the eve of the outbreak of war. We love peace, but never beg for it. If the United States really wants to see the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, it must withdraw its nuclear weapons from South Korea, stop deploying new military hardware there, discontinue nuclear war exercises and come out to dialog with sincerity.
Today, CBS Radio News reported that South Korea had stated that the United States and South Korea would engage in large joint military maneuvers this year if North Korea did not agree to fully comply with IAEA inspection requirements for its nuclear facilities.
Taken together, these reports paint a picture of a very harsh rhetorical reaction by North Korea to a purely defensive surface-to-air missile deployment. White it remains to be seen whether the North Korean reaction will go beyond rhetoric, we must make certain that the Patriot missiles are in fact delivered, deployed, and fully operational as soon as possible.
The February 22, 1994, deadline for North Korean compliance with IAEA nuclear facility inspection requirements is approaching. It would be very foolish, in light of the North Korean reaction, to allow the deadline to occur without having the Patriots in place and operational first.
The problem is simple--if the missiles are operational even a single day late, they will be too late to stave off possibly large numbers of U.S. casualties. Time is of the essence.
Mr. President, it is not clear that the White House or the Pentagon understand the connection between their diplomacy and their defense policy. They are setting a deadline with one hand, while depriving U.S. troops in the field of a weapons system necessary for their defense with the other hand. How will they explain this if North Korea attacks when the deadline is reached, but before the Patriots are operational?
I call upon the President to make certain that his national security policymaking mechanism, which appears to be in disarray, does not delay or lose sight of this vital decision. Many U.S. lives could hinge upon it.
Mr. President, I ask that the two Washington Post stories mentioned above, the Associated Press story mentioned above, and a letter dated January 28, 1994, that I sent to Secretary of Defense Les Aspin on this subject be printed in the Congressional Record immediately following my remarks.
The material follows:
[Page: S444]
From the Washington Post, Jan. 28, 1994
S. Korea Says It Will Accept U.S. Missiles
Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 27: South Korea and the United States will deploy Patriot anti-missile batteries in South Korea despite concerns the move may heighten tensions with communist North Korea, officials in Seoul said today.
`The deployment of Patriot missiles has been discussed by Seoul and Washington for a long time as part of a plan to beef up our defense against possible North Korean attack,' said Cho Jun Hyok, of the foreign ministry's American affairs bureau. `The plan will go ahead, though the size and the time of deployment have yet to be fixed between the two governments,' he said.
U.S. officials had said Wednesday that President Clinton is `looking favorably' on such a deployment but was awaiting agreement from Seoul.
The United States and its allies are making last-minute diplomatic efforts to settle a dispute over the North's suspected nuclear arms program. South Korean and U.S. officials have become impatient over the lack of progress in talks aimed at compelling the North to allow inspections of suspected nuclear sites.
The missiles were requested by U.S. Army Gen. Gary Luck following a study of the military balance on the volatile Korean peninsula. Luck `asked for it [Patriot missile defense] now, and we will proceed with the deployment,' Undersecretary of Defense Frank Wisner told reporters in Washington Wednesday. But he stressed that the White House had not given a formal go-ahead.
Cho Soon Sung, a senior lawmaker of South Korea's opposition Democratic Party, told reporters he was worried that a deployment of Patriot missiles might aggravate problems with the North.
Patriot missiles were used with mixed success in the Persian Gulf War to shoot down Iraqi Scud missiles fired at Saudi Arabia and Israel. They could be used against North Korean Scuds believed aimed at Seoul and other points in South Korea.
Administration officials emphasized that their deployment was not meant as a provocative act or for use as a trump card in the nuclear talks with the North.
From the Washington Post, Jan. 29, 1994
North Korea Denounces U.S. Missiles--Plan To Deploy Air-Defense Patriots Called `Military Challenge'
Seoul, January 28: Communist North Korea today denounced a plan to deploy U.S. patriot air-defense missiles in South Korea, saying the decision would heighten tensions on the peninsula and `increase the danger of war.'
North Korea's officials Korean Central News Agency called the installation of Patriot missiles an `unpardonable, grave military challenge' that threatens diplomatic efforts now centered on North Korea opening its nuclear sites for inspection.
`If the United States and its followers think they can subdue [North Korea] with pressure and threat, it is a big mistake. That method may lead the situation to a hopeless phase, far from resolving the problem,' the agency said.
A South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said Washington was seeking to deploy other advanced weapons to counter the perceived North Korean threat. The spokesman said the plan includes deploying two battalions of Apache attack helicopters, augmenting a force now limited to older Cobra helicopters.
`The U.S. and our country have been working on improving combat capabilities, including the deployment of Patriot missiles,' the spokesman said, commenting on local news reports that 36 Patriot launchers would be deployed in March or April.
The spokesman confirmed Seoul's support for the deployment of Patriot missiles, which were used in the Persian Gulf War to shoot down Iraqi Scud missiles fired at Saudi Arabia and Israel. The spokesman denied the timing and size of the deployment had been decided, saying this would come only after further consultations with Washington.
On Wednesday in Washington, Defense Undersecretary Frank Wisner and other officials said no final decision had been made on deployment. They suggested, however, that President Clinton was leaning toward approval of the request for Patriots. However, South Korea's state radio and Yonhap news agency today quoted an unnamed government official as saying the container-like Patriot launchers would be deployed at U.S. military bases in March or April.
South Korea and its allies fear North Korea is close to building a nuclear bomb. It denies the charge but is refusing to open all its nuclear sites to international inspection. A source at South Korea's Military Intelligence Command said today that no signs of unusual military movements or provocation had been detected in the North recently.
Meanwhile, a report from South Korea's state-run Rural Development Administration said North Korea's food grain production shows steady declines.
North Korea usually denies reports of its problems and said last year it had achieved an `unusual' bumper harvest. It denied American and South Korean media reports that North Koreans were being asked to eat fewer meals each day.
From the Associated Press, Jan. 30, 1994
Tokyo.--North Korea on Sunday denounced U.S. plans to bolster South Korea's missile defense as a warlike move and said they must be scrapped if Washington hopes to reach agreement on inspections of the North's nuclear program.
`The United States and the South Korean authorities will have to take the full responsibility for the grave consequences to be entailed by their military steps,' the official Workers (Communist) Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun declared. It did not elaborate.
Last week, the United States disclosed plans to send Patriot missile batteries to South Korea to boost defenses against a possible North Korean rocket attack.
Tensions already are high over the North's refusal to accept full international inspections of its nuclear facilities, a stand that has deepened suspicions that the country is developing nuclear weapons.
`The latest move of the United States is a very dangerous act which can be seen only on the eve of the outbreak of war,' said Rodong Sinmun in a commentary carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Tokyo.
It said North Korean self-defensive steps would be only natural, and `we love peace, but never beg for it.'
North Korea has insisted that the nuclear inspection issue can be solved only in talks with the United States, with which it has no diplomatic relations. Progress in the two sides' talks, however, has been held up by disagreement in talks between the inspection agency, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, over how inspections would be conducted.
`If the United States really wants to see the settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, it must withdraw its nuclear weapons from South Korea, stop deploying new military hardware there, discontinue nuclear war exercises and come out to dialogue with sincerity,' Rodong Sinmun said.
South Korea has said no nuclear weapons remain in the territory. It has reached a separate nuclear arms ban agreement with the North, but that also has run into trouble over disputes over inspections.
The Korean Peninsula was divided in 1945 into the Communist North and pro-West South, and the North invaded in 1950, starting a bloody three-year war.
U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC, January 28, 1994.
Hon. Les Aspin,
Secretary of Defense, The Pentagon, Washington, DC.
Dear Secretary Aspin: I am writing concerning the conclusions reached in the Department of Defense Inspector General's classified report, `Capability of U.S. Forces Korea to Receive Reinforcing Units,' Report No. 93-162. This report raised many serious questions.
In addition, I am concerned that a delay in sending Patriot Missile batteries to South Korea will signal a weakness on our part and embolden North Korea.
The Washington Post article of January 27, 1994, also referred to the possibility of replacing Cobra helicopters gunships in Korea with Apache gunships. What is the status of this exchange?
In the case of a North Korean attack, I fear that our troops may initially be overwhelmed suffering great casualties. What other steps are you taking to prevent this?
We can offer no measure of comfort to North Korea. Any suggestion of indecision could lead to a disaster--one that we all wish to avoid.
Sincerely,
Alfonse M. D'Amato,
U.S. Senator.
[Page: S445]
END
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
