Friday, May 5, 1972
ROKs Weigh Viet Strategies
SEOUL (AP) --The Defense Ministry is studying certain changes in strategies and tactics involving South Korean forces in Vietnam to better cope with the current North Vietnamese offensive, a ministry official said Wednesday.The study concerns evaluations of situations and other data furnished by Army Maj. Gen. Choi Suk Shin, operations director, Joint Chiefs of Staff, who returned from Saigon Tuesday following a four-day tour of Vietnam, he said.The changes were felt necessary in view of the "unprecedentedly convulsive" war effort of Hanoi in its current offensive, including the recent series of attacks on Korean "Tiger" Div. units at the An Khe Pass and Hill 638, he said.The possible changes, on which he declined to elaborate, are aimed at thwarting more effectively any future Communist attack on Korean forces, inflicting heavier blows on the enemy and sustaining the least losses and casualties, he explained.South Korea has recently pulled out of Vietnam 10,000 Marines and Army support units, and now has about 37,000 troops there, comprising two combat divisions and support elements.The official hinted that the study was being made in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, saying Defense Ministry authorities met Foreign Minister Kim Yong Shik Sunday.He refused to comment when asked by newsman if withdrawal of the two Army divisions and other troops still in Vietnam will be affected by the current war situation in Vietnam."ROKs Weigh Viet Strategies", by (AP), published in the Pacific Stars and Stripes on Friday, May 5, 1972 and reprinted from European and Pacific Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense publication copyright, 2002 European and Pacific Stars and Strips.