[KS] "U.S. should consider withdrawing troops from Korean Peninsula", U S

[icas]

U.S. should consider withdrawing troops from Korean Peninsula, 
Helms says

June 16, 2000
CNN Web posted at: 5:59 PM EDT (2159 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With relations apparently warming between North and
South Korea after their leaders met this week, the United States should
consider a withdrawal of the 37,000 American troops stationed on the 
peninsula, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms said 
Friday.

"It's time to consider it," Helms (R-North Carolina) told CNN on Friday.
"After deliberation, we can determine whether it's time to bring them
out."

But he said no one is certain yet whether the meeting between North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, leads 
to a lasting thaw in relations between the two nations.

"It depends on whether this is just a temporary lull. If it's a
temporary lull, we'll have to leave the people there for a while," Helms 
said. "But if it's for real, then we ought to make plans to bring those 
folks home."

The staunchly conservative Helms made his comments in an appearance on
CNN's political talk show "Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields," and is slated
to air Saturday.

The U.S. has maintained a military presence in South Korea since the
1950-53 Korean War broke out 50 years ago, patrolling the heavily 
fortified border since a 1953 armistice. No formal treaty ended the 
conflict.

While Helms said he was encouraged by the meeting between the two Korean
leaders, he said that it was too early to consider easing U.S. sanctions
against North Korea, a secretive Communist nation.

And he refused to give any credit to the Clinton Administration for the
recent thaw, instead focusing on the efforts of "outside people" such as
Ruth and Franklin Graham -- the wife and son of Christian evangelist
Billy Graham -- who have worked to send humanitarian aid to the famine-
stricken north.

"If this is the result of some of their work, then I have high hopes for
it ... I would be inclined to think they have had more effect than
anybody 
in our government, " he said.

A longtime administration critic, Helms said he looked forward to
working with an administration led by Texas Gov. George W. Bush. A 
"President Bush," he said, would understand and appreciate the three 
branches of government.

"Bill Clinton does not understand that," Helms said. "He thinks he's the
king. And he makes decisions that he expects you to follow, and I'm not 
going to follow a lot of things that he did."


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%