US Troops Ready to ‘Fight Tonight’ in Korea - General

US forces in South Korea are ready to deal with any unpredictable threat from North Korea, US Army Pacific (USARPAC) Deputy Commander Major General James Pasquarette said at Fort Shafter, Hawaii in comments reported by the Department of Defense News.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Pasquarette explained USARPAC deployed 100,000 troops, with 80,000 of them based in Hawaii, Alaska and on the US West Coast, and the remaining 20,000 stationed in South Korea and Japan.

“We are risk-averse — we have to be there based on the North Korean threat, which is unpredictable,” Pasquarette told the News in an interview published on Tuesday.

“We have to be ready to ‘fight tonight,’ so we are there.”

South Korean visitors shelter from the sun under the shadow of a U.S. Surface-to Air missile Patriot launcher during Air Power Day at the U.S. airbase in Osan, south of Seoul, South Korea

© AP Photo / Lee Jin-man

The US Army still deploys the 8th Army, 2nd Infantry Division, 19th Expeditionary Command and other forces in South Korea, Pasquarette noted.

“USARPAC currently has about 25 to 30 staff officers and [noncommissioned officers] residing in Korea,” he said.

Pasquarette serves under four-star Army General Vincent K. Brooks who commands USARPAC.

The United States and South Korea continue to hold extensive regular joint military exercises every year, which North Korea has denounced as provocations.