Sgt. David Hutchinson, right, explains some of the attributes of a Humvee to South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, center, as 2nd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Edward Cardon, left, listens Friday at Camp Casey in South Korea. Kim visited the base to thank troops for their efforts to keep peace on the Korean peninsula. (Jon Rabiroff/Stars and Stripes)
Sgt. David Hutchinson, right, explains some of the attributes of a Humvee to South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, center, as 2nd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Edward Cardon, left, listens Friday at Camp Casey in South Korea. Kim visited the base to thank troops for their efforts to keep peace on the Korean peninsula. (Jon Rabiroff/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. James Thurman, center, talks Friday with South Korea Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, second from left, at Camp Casey in South Korea. Looking on are 2nd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Edward Cardon, left, U.S. ambassador to South Korea Sung Y. Kim, second from right, and deputy commander of South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Gen. Kwon Oh-sung, right. The foreign minister came to Camp Casey on Friday to thank U.S. troops for their service in South Korea. (Jon Rabiroff/Stars and Stripes)
Deputy commander of South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Gen. Kwon Oh-sung takes aim Friday in a battlefield simulator at Camp Casey in South Korea, as U.S. Forces commander Gen. James Thurman, right, looks on. The generals came to the base in connection with a visit there by South Korea Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan. (Jon Rabiroff/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP CASEY, South Korea — South Korea’s foreign minister visited one of the U.S. military’s northernmost bases here Friday to thank the 2nd Infantry Division for being “the spearhead of our combined defense posture” against North Korea.
During his brief remarks to an audience that included U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Sung Y. Kim, U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. James Thurman and about 30 2ID leaders, Kim Sung-hwan also praised the Obama administration for last week making it “clear that the U.S. will be strengthening its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Korean peninsula, despite fiscal constraints.”
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced last week that despite pending cuts in the overall size of America’s fighting force, the U.S. is committed to beefing up its strength in the Pacific.
“As allies, our two countries stand side by side at all levels,” Kim Sung-hwan said. “We have successfully overcome various issues involving our combined defense, from responding to North Korea’s provocations to base relocations.
“However, the most important foundation of our rock-solid combined defense is the hard work and dedication of front-line servicemembers like you. I’m counting on you to be ready to ‘fight tonight,’ ” he said, invoking an oft-used slogan used by 2ID, a division with almost 10,000 troops based almost entirely in the region north of Seoul.
Kim Sung-hwan said his visit to Camp Casey had nothing to do with recent events in North Korea, where Kim Jong Un ascended to power last month following the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.
“This has nothing to do with that,” he said.
In fact, the defense minister quipped, he was more than a year late in delivering on a 2011 New Year’s resolution to visit the 2ID base.
“I came here … to convey the gratitude of the Korean people to American soldiers who are here to defend Korea, and … the peace and security of the peninsula,” Kim said.
During his two-hour visit, he was shown how several U.S. military vehicles operate, and how troops are taught to handle battlefield situations in Camp Casey’s Close Combat Tactical Trainer facility.
Maj. Gen. Edward C. Cardon, the 2ID commander, told the foreign minister, “What I want you to take away from here is that we are, first, ready.
“Second, we are completely linked in with the Republic of Korea army,” he continued. “Third … we’re going to continue to build on what we’ve done so far … and that’s not just with the army, but within the communities that we live.”
