The U.S., which had expressed its plan to reorganize the U.S. forces in the ROK into the “strategic task force” and “regional expeditionary force” since 2004, reached an agreement with the ROK on “strategic flexibility” of the U.S. forces in the ROK in January 2006, and in the 2010 Defense Department report, it clarified for the first time that the U.S. forces in the ROK could be dispatched to other regions according to the principle of “strategic flexibility”.
Recently, it more openly advocated the “modernization of the U.S.-ROK alliance” talking about “bolstering up conventional deterrent against all threats in the region” and “ensuring peace and security in the Taiwan Strait” at the 57th U.S.-ROK annual security consultative meeting in November last year. And in the National Security Strategy Report in December that year, it stressed the need for the regional allies including the ROK to increase the defence expenditure with the main emphasis on strengthening the capabilities needed for containing hostile countries and protecting the “first island chain”.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 