The U.S. Department of Defense said on Thursday that the deployment of armored brigade combat troops known as "the Bulldog Brigade" to South Korea is a "normal rotation."
 
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby issued the position during a press briefing when asked about the matter. 

Kirby said that troops from the Third Armored Brigade Combat Team of the First Armored Division, stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, will replace the First Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division.

The spokesperson said that the replacement is part of a regular rotation of forces to support the United States' commitment to South Korea, calling it a "normal rotational deployment."

The U.S. Eighth Army said earlier that troops from the Bulldog Brigade began arriving in South Korea early this month, replacing the First Brigade Combat Team which has wrapped up its nine-month rotational deployment. 

The 37-hundred-strong Bulldog Brigade and its M1 Abrams tanks and other equipment will support the Second Infantry Division, South Korea-U.S. Combined Division and Eighth Army for nine months.