A senior American diplomat says the United States is not currently discussing the possibility of withdrawing troops from South Korea.
David Stilwell, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that such a move would require consultation with Seoul.
There has been ongoing speculation that Washington is considering a withdrawal or reduction in the number of U.S. forces stationed on the Korean Peninsula.
In his recently released book "Rage," Washington Post investigative journalist Bob Woodward quotes President Donald Trump as telling military officials to pull troops from South Korea, citing the cost of maintaining service members deployed overseas.
Stilwell also noted that U.S. alliances with other countries, especially those in the Indo-Pacific region, are most important in countering what the Trump administration is increasingly calling aggression from the Chinese Communist Party.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
