INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
South Korea said on Wednesday the issue of United States troops stationed in the South is unrelated to any future peace treaty with
North Korea and that American forces should stay even if such an agreement is signed."United States 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, citing President Moon
Jae-in.The Blue House was responding to media questions about a column written by South Korean presidential adviser and academic Moon
Chung-in that was published earlier this week.Moon Chung-in said it would be difficult to justify the presence of United States forces in
South Korea if a peace treaty was signed after the two Koreas agreed at an historic summit last week to put an end to the Korean
conflict.However, Seoul wants the troops to stay because United States forces in South Korea play the role of a mediator in military
confrontations between neighbouring superpowers like China and Japan, another presidential official told reporters on condition of anonymity
earlier on Wednesday.Presidential adviser Moon Chung-in was asked not to create confusion regarding the president's stance, Kim said.The
United States currently has around 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, which North Korea has long demanded be removed as one of the
conditions for giving up its nuclear and missile programmes.However, there was no mention in last week's declaration by Moon Jae-in and
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of the withdrawal of United States forces from South Korea
Kim and Moon Jae-in pledged to work for the "complete denuclearisation" of the Korean peninsula.United States troops have been stationed in
South Korea since the Korean War, which ended in 1953 in an armistice that left the two Koreas technically still at war.Moon Jae-in and Kim
2018(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
