미국, B-52H 전략폭격기 5대 괌에서 뺐다…북미협상 유도?<br /><br />The U.S. Air Force's strategic bomber that had been based in Guam has been flown back to the mainland United States.<br />With the move, there's speculation it is a strategy to resume denuclearization talks with North Korea and to negotiate a better South Korea-U.S. defense cost sharing deal.<br />Hong Yoo reports.<br />The U.S. Air Force announced late last week that its five B-52 strategic bombers will no longer be stationed at its Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.<br />Multiple South Korean officials familiar with the matter confirmed Sunday that the strategic bombers have been reallocated back to the U.S. mainland.<br />The U.S. Air Force had maintained a B-52 presence at the Guam base since 2004, with different models rotating to provide a strategic deterrent across the Pacific area of operations.<br />The B-52s will continue to operate in the Indo-Pacific region, to include Guam, 'at the timing and tempo of their choosing', according to the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command.<br />It also said the aircraft will be permanently based in the U.S. as the bombers have been modified to operate from a broader array of overseas locations.<br />Military experts say the move will save the U.S, military a lot of money used for maintenance of the weapon rotation system.<br />That money could be used to strengthen their marine force to contain the Chinese marine force in the Indo-Pacific.<br />It could also mean the U.S. is still looking for ways to resume denuclearization talks with North Korea.<br />Some experts say it was a strategy to win the upper hand in negotiating a new defense cost sharing deal with South Korea.<br />To this, South Korea's military said the decision had been shared with them and it does not alter the U.S. defense stance over the Korean peninsula.<br />It added the U.S. had planned the B-52 reallocation a long time ago.<br />Hong Yoo, Arirang News.<br />
