South Korea has said US troops stationed in the country will remain even if a peace treaty with North Korea is signed.
The US currently has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, under a security agreement in place since the Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty in 1953.
As such, the two Koreas are technically still at war, but North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has demanded US troops withdraw from the South as one of the conditions for the North giving up its nuclear weapons.
“US troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties,” said Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, speaking for the South’s president, Moon Jae-in.
The Blue House was responding to questions about a column written by a South Korean presidential adviser and academic, Moon Chung-in, which was published earlier this week.
Moon Chung-in said it would be difficult to justify the presence of US forces in South Korea if a peace treaty were signed.
However, Seoul wants the troops to stay because US forces in South Korea play the role of a mediator in military confrontations between neighbouring superpowers such as China and Japan, another presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Moon Chung-in was asked not to create confusion regarding the president’s stance, Mr Kim said.
There was no mention in last week’s declaration by Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un of the withdrawal of US forces from South Korea.
Mr Kim and Mr Moon pledged to work for the “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula.
Mr Moon and Mr Kim have said they want to put an end to the Korean conflict, promising there will be “no more war” on the Korean peninsula.
It comes as US F-22 Raptor fighter jets arrived in South Korea for an annual joint training exercise known as "Max Thunder", Yonhap news agency reported.
