Great Satan US sending troops, tanks to S Korea

The United States plans to deploy new troops and military equipment in South Korea in February amid increased tensions on the Korean peninsula.

800 soldiers, forty M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks and forty Bradley fighting vehicles will be dispatched to South Korea from the first US Cavalry Division as part of a military rebalance, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Army Colonel Steve Warren said, “This addition is part of the rebalance to the Pacific. It’s been long planned and is part of our enduring commitment to security on the Korean peninsula.”

The new troops and equipment will be sent to North Gyeonggi Province, just south of the demilitarized zone which separates North Korea from South Korea.

The troops will remain in the country for nine months while the equipment will be left behind there to be used by follow-on rotation of US forces, a Pentagon spokesman said.

The US move comes amid increased tensions between the two Koreas as the North has continued to develop nuclear weapons and test missiles. The country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, executed his powerful uncle last month in what became the biggest upheaval inside the ruling regime for years.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday that “the United States and the Republic of Korea stand very firmly united, without an inch of daylight between us, not a sliver of daylight, on the subject of opposition to North Korea’s destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile programs and proliferation activities.”

“There is no greater sign of the United States commitment to regional security than the 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea,” Kerry said in a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se in Washington.

In 2011, President Barack Obama announced a strategic rebalancing of priorities toward the Pacific while reducing US commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.