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| A graveside ceremony for John Singlaub is held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Aug. 19 (local time). Newsis |
By Kang Seung-woo
A memorial of John Singlaub, a former U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) chief of staff known for his objection to Washington's plan to withdraw American troops from the Korean Peninsula in the 1970s, is expected to be built next year as part of marking the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, according to a military veteran group.
The South Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation plans to carry forward the statue plan after holding consultations with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and his family.
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| John Singlaub / Korea Times file |
The veterans ministry has yet to receive a detailed scheme or formulate a plan but given that next year will mark seven decades of the bilateral alliance, it will be considered positively, according to its official. The South Korea-U.S. alliance was forged through the Korean War and founded on the 1953 South Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty.
Singlaub, a native of California who was commissioned as a U.S. Army second lieutenant after graduation from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1943 was quickly chosen by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to both the U.S. Army Special Forces, or Green Berets, and the Central Intelligence Agency. In fact, Singlaub conducted intelligence operations during the Korean War with the CIA's Joint Advisory Commission, Korea (JACK).
The two-star general with a record of wartime valor ― having also participated in World War II and the Vietnam War ― was dismissed from his position as USFK chief of staff after his comments in a 1977 media interview criticizing then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter's proposal to pull U.S. troops out of the peninsula. He said in an interview with the Washington Post that the withdrawal plan could trigger another North Korean invasion.
In 1978, he was compelled to retire from the military as a result of his statements publicly questioning the Carter administration's national security policies.
On Jan. 29, Singlaub passed away at his home in Franklin, Tenn. He was 100.
A service in his memory was held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, Aug. 19. Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup each sent a letter of condolence, at the time acknowledging the deceased's commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance and the defense of South Korea.
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