US Deploys ‘Chemical Battalion’ to South Korea as Jitters Grow

US Insists Deployment 'Coincidental'

by | Apr 4, 2013

The US military has deployed the 23rd Chemical Battalion to South Korea today, a group specifically equipped to deal with chemical and nuclear weapons attacks, in the wake of repeated threats to launch nuclear attacks by North Korea.

The US insists the deployment is “coincidental,” but with Congress openly talking up starting a war that seems certain to devastate the peninsula, jitters seem to be growing in South Korea, where the annual US-North Korea war threats are usually just ignored by the public.

Today though the attention being paid to the ever growing US arsenal entering the region is very real, and while no one thinks North Korea is likely to start anything, the chance of the US up and attacking them seems to be growing.

South Korean officials are continuing to try to downplay the situation, saying that the North Korean rhetoric is mostly empty and that the odds of “provocations” are small.

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.

Join the Discussion!

We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.

For more details, please see our Comment Policy.