By Kang Seung-woo



U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) plans to deploy a mechanized infantry battalion north of Seoul this year, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.



The battalion is comprised of 800 soldiers with M1A2 battle tanks and M2A3 armored infantry fighting vehicles. They will join the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division (2ID), stationed in Uijeongbu and Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, for nine months.



The battalion will be stationed on a rotation basis, meaning that U.S. forces will stay near the frontline in a change to the current bilateral agreement.



The deployment comes as North Korea is feared to stage provocations in the near future following the execution of Jang Song-thaek, the North's de facto No. 2 man, in a power struggle.



According to the Yongsan Relocation Plan and Land Partnership Plan, the main components of USFK, including 2ID, are scheduled to be relocated to Pyeongtaek by 2016.



"The deployment has to do with growing tensions on the Korean peninsula," said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.



"Late last year, USFK Commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said a plan to leave some American soldiers north of Seoul is under consideration and it means USFK itself admits that there is a lack of deterrence against North Korea when its troops move to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, by 2016."



Scaparrotti told reporters in November that as part of leaving some troops there, a Korean-U.S. combined division is seen as one possible option.



Yang added that the U.S. also takes the current North Korea issue seriously.



Last month, Jang, who was instrumental in enabling Kim's transition to power two years ago, was executed on charges of treason, along with other officials, sparking concerns about potential instability in the isolated country.



"The deployment is part of preparing for contingencies in Pyongyang and escalating tensions on the peninsula," Yang said.



A series of USFK's moves back up Yang's opinion that the U.S. deems the North a serious threat.



In April 2013, a U.S. chemical battalion was redeployed to Camp Stanley in Pyeongtaek, nine years after it withdrew from the peninsula in 2003, and a U.S. Army attack reconnaissance squadron returned to Camp Humphreys after missions in Iraq with 30 OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters.



Amid growing speculation of a residual force remaining in what USFK calls Area I, the northernmost region of South Korea, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) stepped in in an attempt to calm the situation.



"The U.S. Department of Defense is consistently pushing for rotational deployments of its forces across the world to meet the requirements of commanders. The deployment of the U.S. Army's mechanized infantry battalion to South Korea seems to be a part of this policy," MND spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing.



"The deployment was planned well ahead of Jang's purge as part of the U.S. military's rebalancing policy."



However, Kim did not elaborate on the base location and duration of their missions in Korea, citing ongoing consultations to fine tune details of the rotational force.



In addition, the defense ministry issued a statement saying that the USFK commander's remarks were just in view of military operations.



However, in December, Eighth U.S. Army Commander Lt. Gen. Bernard Champoux sent a letter to the Dongducheon Mayor, hinting U.S. troops might remain north of the Han River for years to come.



