The U.S. military plans to deploy a "combat-ready" armored battalion to South Korea to allow for "greater responsiveness" in case of a crisis with North Korea, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. Eight hundred soldiers from an Army regiment will be stationed at two camps near the demarcation line with North Korea starting next month, the Pentagon said in a statement. The rotational deployment is part of a strategic shift towards the Asia-Pacific region "and allows for greater responsiveness to better meet theater operational requirements," the Pentagon wrote. The announcement came one day after U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hosted South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se for talks at the Pentagon. "The two discussed the importance of maintaining a robust combined defense of the Korean Peninsula as a strong deterrent against provocations from North Korea," Rear Admiral John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday.
