Withdrawal of ammunition from USFK stockpile will not affect readiness: Pentagon

All News 06:03 January 20, 2023

By Byun Duk-kun

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- Withdrawing ammunition and military equipment from U.S. stockpiles in South Korea and other countries to support Ukraine will not affect the U.S.' capabilities or defense readiness, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday.

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) earlier said the Pentagon has requested it to offer some of its equipment to support Ukraine.

"We are supplying Ukraine pretty regularly with different munitions, materials, capabilities and equipment, and part of that is making sure that we can do so quickly, and we have been working with the ROK and Israel when it comes to withdrawing from our stocks and communicating that with them," Sabrina Singh, principal deputy spokesperson for the defense department, told a daily press briefing.

"But that doesn't mean it impacts our readiness. It doesn't impact our capabilities to protect Americans here at home or abroad. And so we feel confident on what we have been able to withdraw and what we have been able to get to the Ukrainians," she added.

ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.

Singh insisted the plan to withdraw from U.S. stockpiles overseas had little to do with dwindling inventories at home.

"The secretary has always said we are not going to drop below our readiness levels. But we also have to pull from different stockpiles from all around the world," she said.

"We have to go to other sources, other places to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs, and to also be able to backfill our own stocks and work on backfilling partners and allies," she added.

The Pentagon earlier said the U.S. was in consultations with South Korean defense companies to purchase ammunition for its own stockpile.