U.S. forces in South Korea not subject to North Korea-U.S. talks: South Korea official

[June 15, 2018]  By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. military forces in South Korea are not subject to negotiations between North Korea and the United States because they are a matter for the U.S.-South Korean alliance, a senior official in South Korea's presidential office said on Friday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said after his historic summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday he would stop "expensive, provocative" war games with the South.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty that left the two Koreas technically still at war.

"Let me be clear. There has been no discussions and no change in position on the matter of the issue of U.S. troops in South Korea," said the high-level South Korean official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Before Tuesday's summit, there had been talks between North Korea and the United States about completing an "early" denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the official added, but did not elaborate.

The official said the U.S.-North Korea summit "jumpstarted" stalled negotiations on denuclearization and hoped South Korea would contribute to speeding up the process.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, charged by Trump with leading follow-up negotiations, said the United States hoped to achieve "major disarmament" by North Korea within the next 2-1/2 years.

The South Korean and American flags fly next to each other at Yongin, South Korea, August 23, 2016. Courtesy Ken Scar/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS

Tough sanctions would remain on North Korea until its complete denuclearization, Pompeo said, apparently contradicting the North's view that the process agreed at this week's summit would be phased and reciprocal.

However, expectations of trade with North Korea have helped revive property prices in China's border city of Dandong.

North Korea proposed to Seoul to disarm, on a trial basis, the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom, the only site in the Demilitarised Zone where both countries' soldiers stand almost face to face, the South's presidential spokesman said.

The offer by the North's military officials came during talks with the South's military on Thursday, and South Korea will "actively pursue" disarmament in the area, the spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom, told reporters on Friday.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Writing by Joyce Lee, Ju-min Park; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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