ACCESSION NUMBER:335283
FILE ID:POL202
DATE:03/29/94
TITLE:DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, TUESDAY, MARCH 29 (03/29/94)
TEXT:*94032902.POL
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, TUESDAY, MARCH 29
(Korean peninsula, Shalikashvili trip, Macedonia, Somalia, Perry/Georgia,
Perry/North Korea) (810)
NEWS BRIEFING -- Deputy spokesman Dennis Boxx answered questions on the
following topics:
NORTH KOREAN SITUATION IS NOT AN EMERGENCY
Stressing that this "is not an emergency situation," Boxx said there is "no
movement" of U.S. military equipment to South Korea other than the Patriot
anti-missile batteries.
The deputy spokesman added that the winter military training cycle continues
in South Korea and that "no crisis" exists on the Korean peninsula.
The Patriots, he said, are on a train bound for Oakland, California, from
where they will be shipped to the Republic of Korea.
Boxx said discussions continue between U.S. and South Korean officials about
future military equipment improvements which may be required, including
"contingency planning."
Boxx said tentative plans are being made for Defense Secretary Perry to
visit South Korea next month. He indicated that the subject of
prepositioning of U.S. military equipment and other subjects are expected
to be on the agenda. The deputy spokesman also said Perry plans to travel
to Japan in April as well.
SHALIKASHVILI TRAVELS TO EUROPE, BALKANS
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), John Shalikashvili, is
traveling to Europe and the Balkans to meet with U.S. and NATO forces as
well as senior U.S. and United Nations officials.
Shalikashvili will visit Brussels, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, the former
Yugoslav republic of Macedonia and Germany. The deputy spokesman said the
chairman was seeking a "first hand look" at the situation in the Balkans.
A streamlined command and control system for NATO and U.N. officials seeking
to enforce the NATO ultimatum on Sarajevo will likely be discussed during
1halikashvili's visit.
MACEDONIA DEPLOYMENT AWAITS NORDIC DECISION
Boxx said the United States has been prepared to provide "a few hundred"
additional U.S. peacekeeping troops to the former Yugoslav republic of
Macedonia "to relieve some Nordic units there."
U.S. officials await a decision by Nordic countries about when, or if, they
might redeploy their forces to Bosnia. "They have not worked out that end
of it yet," the deputy spokesman said.
U.S. HOPES FOR ORDER AFTER TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM SOMALIA
Despite reports of continuing banditry in Somalia, U.S. officials "hope for
the best" after carrying out "a reasonable effort" to restore order in the
African nation, Boxx said.
The final contingent of American military forces returned to the United
States from Somalia on March 28.
The U.S. Air Force reported that it delivered 91,295 short tons and 86,883
passengers in connection with Operations Provide Relief, Restore Hope and
JTF (Joint Task Force)-Somalia. An Air Force media advisory noted that its
forces had evacuated 850 patients during the Somali operations.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
U.N. PEACEKEEPING OPERATION FOR GEORGIA NEARS
Defense Secretary Perry says a United Nations peacekeeping operation may be
deployed to Georgia "sooner rather than later."
In an interview on the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour March 28, the secretary
explained that the United States, as a U.N. member, would like to "provide
financial support but...not...troops" to the operation.
He said that U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Madeleine
Albright has discussed the idea in New York, and Pentagon officials
explored it with Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgian chairman and acting minister
of defense, during his visit to the United States.
"Our position is that any peacekeeping forces in Georgia ought to be under
U.N. mandate," Perry said. He described the situation there as "desperate"
and noted that the United Nations wants to see a peace agreement in Georgia
before it is prepared to deploy troops to help sustain a peace.
"The U.N. does not want to go in and try to enforce a peace on the parties,"
the secretary said.
PERRY SAYS NORTH KOREA POSES NO IMMINENT DANGER
Defense Secretary Perry foresees "no imminent military danger in North
Korea" in the weeks or few months ahead.
During an interview March 28 on the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, Perry said the
United States is "not intimidated" by North Korean rhetoric or political
posturing.
But Perry conceded there are "plenty" of reasons to be concerned, and the
United States is "taking the prudent steps" defensively to protect its
troops on the Korean peninsula should "the North Koreans take some actions
which we are not...expecting to happen."
He said some of the U.S. concerns are:
-- Two-thirds of North Korea's million-man Army is based very close to the
South Korean border;
-- The North Koreans are pursuing both nuclear weapons and ballistic missile
programs and have "resisted or stalled every effort" to try to stop the
nuclear weapons program; and
1
-- North Korean rhetoric has become "very inflammatory" especially by
threatening to turn Seoul into "a sea of fire."
NNNN
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