South Korea: Run DMZ

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It's an enduring relic of the cold war: more than 15,000 U.S. troops stationed just south of the Korean peninsula's Demilitarized Zone—well within range of North Korean artillery. But the trip wire—the boots-on-the-ground guarantee that an attack on South Korea would automatically bring U.S. intervention—may soon be gone. Last week, Seoul and Washington announced U.S. troops will pull back at least 50 km to bases south of Seoul over the next few years. It makes military sense—a few thousand grunts were never going to block an invasion by the 1.1 million-strong North Korean military. And in an era of precision-guided munitions, officials insist the pullback won't undermine the U.S.-South Korean defense alliance—or send the wrong signal to Pyongyang. Says Lieut. Colonel Steven Boylan, a spokesman for U.S. forces in South Korea: "Everything we are doing is to enhance the alliance, not diminish it." With anti-American sentiment still strong in South Korea, the U.S. decision might seem like a boon to President Roh Moo Hyun; in his younger days, he supported the withdrawal of American troops. No danger of that here: the move comes with a $11 billion investment to bolster U.S. defenses on the peninsula.