President Kim Dae-jung has met the new Commander of the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea ... General Leon LaPorte. The president thanked the U.S. forces in South Korea for working closely with South Korea to maintain security for the upcoming World Cup. Mr. Kim asked General LaPorte to do his utmost to establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula ... saying that security and peace on the Korean Peninsula is based on the traditional alliance between Seoul and Washington. General LaPorte has replaced General Thomas Schwartz as the commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea AND the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.