Free Republic

NK Seeks Revision of 1961 Defense Treaty With China MARCH 04, 2010 08:46 North Korea is known to have proposed to China the revision of a bilateral cooperation treaty in talks on a breakthrough in international sanctions following Pyongyang’s nuclear test in May last year. When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in October last year, China’s official Xinhua News Agency did not say whether they discussed the revision of a clause in the treaty guaranteeing China`s automatic intervention in the event of a security threat in North Korea. An informed...

Japan and Australia say the treaty benefits the region as a whole The prime ministers of Japan and Australia have signed a security pact designed to enhance military co-operation between the two nations. Japan's PM Shinzo Abe said the pact would help to stabilise the region. The defence deal - Japan's first with a country other than the US - includes co-operation on border security, counter-terrorism and disaster relief. It is the result of closer co-operation on security matters in Asia that Japan and Australia have been pursuing. The four part agreement Mr Abe signed with Australian PM John...

LaPorte Addresses 'Change' by Yoo Yong-won (kysu@chosun.com) General Leon J. LaPorte, the commander of the United States Forces Korea said Thursday that with the advent of a new administration it was time to change the makeup of the USFK-Korea alliance. General LaPorte said the alliance could be improved by closely studying the respective roles, missions, structure, deployment and leadership of the American and Korean militaries, with respect to future requirements and capability. In a keynote speech at a seminar sponsored by the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, the Heritage Foundation, and the Korea-US Exchange Council, LaPorte noted it was necessary...