FACT SHEET: U.S. REQUIREMENTS FOR LANDMINES IN KOREA
(White House release of September 17, 1997)

(The following fact sheet on U.S. requirements for landmines in Korea was issued by the White House on September 17, 1997.)

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary

September 17, 1997

FACT SHEET

U.S. Requirements for Landmines in Korea

The security situation in Korea is unique, requiring the United States to maintain the option of using anti-personnel landmines there until alternatives are available or the risk of aggression has been removed. Our objective is to have alternatives to our anti-personnel landmines there ready by 2006.

A U.S. Army General leads the UN command in Korea, pursuant to the UN Armistice Agreement of 1953. The United States has 37,000 troops there, along with the forces of our South Korean allies. The UN command is composed of eight other nations as well.

Anti-personnel landmines play a crucial role in the defense of Korea and the city of Seoul, which is just 27 miles from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and which has a population in excess of 10 million inhabitants. Across the DMZ are nearly 1 million North Korean forces. These forces are well-prepared and could come across the border at any time, with little warning.

Because North Korean forces are so close to Seoul and so outnumber allied forces in place, the United Nations command relies on pre-planned and emplaced minefields to counter and slow a possible North Korean advance. These minefields are well marked with fences and signs and are monitored by South Korean troops. They do not pose a threat to the local civilian population. In hostilities, additional APL would be deployed to delay and to disrupt the attack long enough for us to bring in air power and other reinforcements with the objective of halting the attack and preventing the enormous loss of life that would result if North Korean forces were to overrun Seoul. Any U.S. anti-personnel landmines that are not marked and monitored will self-destruct within a maximum of 15 days, leaving no residual threat to the civilian population.

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