25 March 2013/13 Jumada l-Ula 1434/05 Farvardin 1391/14 Yi-Mao (2nd month) 4711

The United States and Republic of Korea have signed a new military pact, giving South Korea the lead in any reaction to attack from North Korea.  The U.S. Forces Korea would act in a support role (and would involve U.S. Forces Japan and U.S. Pacific Command).

This comes after reports that the United States has been increasing military personnel in South Korea.  According to a 2008 agreement there are supposed to be only 28500 U.S. military personnel in ROK.  However, even the most recent U.S. Department of Defense documents show troop strength has actually been increased over the past few years, exactly as North Korea claims.

The 2012 Base Structure Report shows 37354 U.S. personnel in south Korea as of September 2011.  Some analysts think the increase is from the Iraq pullout, and have pointed out that such increases are being seen in Germany, Japan and even Kuwait.

This suggests that U.S. personnel pulled out of Iraq are not being sent home to the U.S., but are being held in reserve in Germany, Japan, Kuwait and South Korea for future planned wars.