South Korea's top office denies reports of Trump U.S. forces reduction review
- 6 years ago
靑 "트럼프 '주한미군 감축검토' 명령 사실아냐"... 펜타곤 "변함 없다"
Weeks ahead of the maiden meeting between the leaders of Washington and Pyongyang, there are reports of President Trump considering options to reduce the number of American troops stationed in South Korea.
Seoul's top office dismissed such reports.
Kwon Jang-ho has our top story.
Seoul's Presidential office has dismissed reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had requested plans to reduce American troop numbers in South Korea, describing them as 'not true'.
The Blue House's senior press secretary Yoon Young-chan released a statement on Friday saying that President Moon's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who is currently in Washington, had discussed this report with a key member of the U.S. National Security Council... who flatly denied it, calling it "groundless."
The Pentagon refused to confirm the report, but a spokesperson said, "The Department of Defense's mission in South Korea remains the same" and that their "force posture has not changed."
The New York Times on Thursday quoted several unnamed officials, who said Trump had ordered the Pentagon to draw up such plans.
The review is said not to be intended as a bargaining chip for North Korea's denuclearization in Trump's upcoming summit with Kim Jong-un, but it is being considered as an option if a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula is reached.
Although the sources declined to confirm whether Trump was considering a full withdrawal, they said it was unlikely.
Trump has long criticized the costs of stationing the 28-thousand-500 troops in South Korea, saying that Seoul needs to pay more towards those costs.
In March he even suggested during a fundraising speech that he wanted to pull out troops in order to balance out the trade deficit.
Currently South Korea pays around 820-million dollars a year towards troop costs, about half of the total cost of stationing U.S. forces on the peninsula, but that amount is expected to increase with Seoul and Washington currently in negotiations over a new deal.
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News.
Weeks ahead of the maiden meeting between the leaders of Washington and Pyongyang, there are reports of President Trump considering options to reduce the number of American troops stationed in South Korea.
Seoul's top office dismissed such reports.
Kwon Jang-ho has our top story.
Seoul's Presidential office has dismissed reports that U.S. President Donald Trump had requested plans to reduce American troop numbers in South Korea, describing them as 'not true'.
The Blue House's senior press secretary Yoon Young-chan released a statement on Friday saying that President Moon's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who is currently in Washington, had discussed this report with a key member of the U.S. National Security Council... who flatly denied it, calling it "groundless."
The Pentagon refused to confirm the report, but a spokesperson said, "The Department of Defense's mission in South Korea remains the same" and that their "force posture has not changed."
The New York Times on Thursday quoted several unnamed officials, who said Trump had ordered the Pentagon to draw up such plans.
The review is said not to be intended as a bargaining chip for North Korea's denuclearization in Trump's upcoming summit with Kim Jong-un, but it is being considered as an option if a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula is reached.
Although the sources declined to confirm whether Trump was considering a full withdrawal, they said it was unlikely.
Trump has long criticized the costs of stationing the 28-thousand-500 troops in South Korea, saying that Seoul needs to pay more towards those costs.
In March he even suggested during a fundraising speech that he wanted to pull out troops in order to balance out the trade deficit.
Currently South Korea pays around 820-million dollars a year towards troop costs, about half of the total cost of stationing U.S. forces on the peninsula, but that amount is expected to increase with Seoul and Washington currently in negotiations over a new deal.
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News.