SEOUL - The US flag has been lowered on more than a half-dozen deteriorating encampments for American soldiers who have kept armed vigil for more than five decades near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing South and North Korea.
The potential for conflict still looms: North Korea's nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programs seek to fortify the world's fifth-largest military. But US military policymakers are hoping improvements in weapons technology can replace boots on the ground needed elsewhere, and still keep the peace.
Before Iraq, South Korea was the only place where US M1A1 Abrams tanks kept their ammunition loaded on board in case of a sudden attack. But since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the US military has faced severe staff challenges, and it's not cost-effective to maintain relatively idle troops presiding over the Korean War armistice, signed in Panmunjom 52 years ago on July 27, 1953.
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