General Vincent Brooks Departing Post as US Forces Korea Commander in South Korea

(Source- Channel A News Top Ten 11.6) Partial to South Korea Brooks- successor, a hard liner. US-ROK relations how will they fare? Each time discord in the US-ROK relationship emerged, (Brooks) served as a friendly force.

General Vincent Brooks Commander of US Armed Forces Korea, the US-ROK Combined Forces Command, and the United Nations Command, gave a short speech acknowledging the challenges his command had overcome in changing circumstances, and encouraged subordinate commanders and troops to display the same resourcefulness in face of the hills and summits ahead. He said, "Now Mr President, we see ourselves at the crest of the mountain, but as we are in Korea, there is always another mountain, There is still hard work ahead of us, that still remains to be done, and with your leadership, we know we will be successful and we will be committed to achieving that success." General Brooks is regarded favorably in South Korea as a friend of the Korean people who made substantial efforts to smooth over recent rough spots in the relationship between the allies brought on by changes in the approach to North Korea in response to the nuclear crisis there. The successor commander, General Robert Abrams is regarded as a hard liner compared to Brooks, who was described as a dove by conservative analysts in the Channel A Top Ten report.

(Source- Channel A News Top Ten 11.6) About Abrams: "Suspension of US-ROK military exercises weakens preparedness against North Korea." Hardliner appearance.

It was noted that General Brooks had previously served in South Korea, had studied the Korean language, and was very interested in Korean culture. He seemed an especially articulate man, almost a politician was another comment offered. Brooks is expected to depart Korea on November 8. Some uncertainty was expressed about the arrival of General Abrams on the political scene and how he would respond to any tensions in the alliance.