Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has asked South Korea to pony up more for US forces on the peninsula as Seoul pushes for greater control in a new command relationship. The Korea Times reports that Rumsfeld wrote in a letter to South Korean officials that Seoul should shoulder an “equitable” portion of the country’s defense. Rumsfeld also noted that the US would prefer to shift operational control by 2009, but Seoul wants to wait until 2012.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
