US affirms 'right mix' of war deterrents against N. Korea

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- The United States affirmed its commitment Wednesday to
maintaining a "right mix" of war deterrents against North Korea, following a
notice it will replace half of its air-to-ground attack helicopters in South
Korea with a dozen F-16s.

"The U.S. remains committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea," Capt.
Elizabeth Aptekar, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson, said, referring to South Korea
by its official name, "and will ensure the right mix of capabilities is deployed
on and around the Korean Peninsula."
The comments emailed to Yonhap came after the U.S. announced this week that it
plans to deploy a dozen F-16 multi-role jet fighters to replace a single
battalion of 24 AH-64 Apache Longbows that are to be redeployed to Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The two countries said late last year that the Apaches would be replaced with
A-10s -- known as "tank killers" for their superb air-to-surface attack
capabilities -- but the U.S. said recently it has discovered cracks on some of
their thin-skin winged A-10s.
"This has led the Air Force to conduct a comprehensive assessment of A-10
aircraft availability for (South Korean deployment) and other global
deployments," Aptekar said, adding the flaw appeared after the announcement that
the Apaches would be restationed.
Asked whether A-10s can be deployed to South Korea in the future to replace F-16s
in rotation, she said, "As of right now, there has not been any decision made to
deploy A-10s at a later date, but we do not discount the possibility."
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53
Korean War, which ended in a ceasefire instead of a peace treaty. The leaders of
the two longtime allies said last year that Washington will remain committed to
maintaining its war deterrence capability here against Pyongyang.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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