免费日韩片_欧美成人精品一区二区男人小说_国产乱码一区二区三区四区_国产精品国产三级国产aⅴ入口_成人看的污污超级黄网站免费_欧美一级在线免费观看_成人午夜免费无码福利片_国产乱人伦偷精品视频色欲_aaa少妇高潮大片免费看_国产精品1234_亚洲精品国产suv一区88_中文字字幕在线中文无码_精品亚洲区_午夜九九九_国产av国片精品jk制服丝袜_色综合亚洲_亚洲成av人片无码bt种子下载_欧美色就色_精品少妇的一区二区三区四区_男人用嘴添女人下身免费视频

US plans to cut troops in S.Korea by third
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-07 16:38

The United States plans to cut its troops in South Korea by a third by the end of next year, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

Although North Korea's 1.1-million-strong armed forces dwarf the U.S. contingent of 37,500 troops, any reduction is closely watched because its symbolic deterrent value outweighs its numerical strength. South Korea has 690,000 troops.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless, (TOP) walks with his South Korean counterpart Kwon Ahn-doo to hold a meeting at the Defense Ministry in Seoul June 7, 2004. The United States and South Korea opened talks on Monday on a U.S. plan to reposition forces and withdraw up to a third of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed near the cold war's last frontier.  [Reuters]

"U.S. officials told us last night that under their Global Defense Posture Review they are planning to reduce the number of U.S. troops here by 12,500 by the end of December 2005," Kim Sook, head of the ministry's North America bureau, told reporters.

Kim was briefing reporters after a first day of separate talks with U.S. officials on relocating U.S. troops away from front-line positions near the Demilitarised Zone border with North Korea.

That figure would include 3,600 U.S. soldiers already earmarked for deployment to Iraq from South Korea.

Asked whether South Korea had agreed to the pullout timescale, Kim said: "That is what the United States presented as their plan and were going to discuss it from now on."

Kim said the U.S. officials had said Washington would pursue the reduction very carefully because of the security conditions on the Korean peninsula.

He said the United States welcomed Seoul's plans for a more independent defense and would actively help South Korea with that.

Wi Sung-lac, a National Security Council adviser, told reporters South Korea had yet to find out what U.S. forces would be moved from where under the proposed reduction. There were no formal talks on this during the meetings on troops being relocated within South Korea.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
China's economy: Where will it go from here?         GM to invest US$3b in China in 3 years         Tougher wildlife protection law under way         Weakened Bush seeks luster at G8 summit         Reagan to be honored with state funeral         Survey: Men like radio; women dig television	US plans to cut troops in S.Korea by third       UN council puts finishing touches on Iraq measure       Nine died in Baghdad bombings       S.Korea's Roh pledges reform with new parliament       Sharon's coalition wobbles after Gaza pullout vote       38 pilgrims killed in road accident in Pakistan