SINGAPORE: The factor of US troops stationed in South Korea is probably not "on the table" at a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un, US defense secretary Jim Mattis mentioned nowadays.
"That issue is not on the table here in Singapore on the 12th (of June), nor should it be," he mentioned on the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security summit in Singapore, regarding the scheduled date of the Trump-Kim assembly.
There are currently some 28,500 US forces based totally in the South.
Trump mentioned Friday he will meet Kim for the ancient summit as at first scheduled after atypical Oval Office talks with a top envoy from Pyongyang.
Trump advised newshounds that denuclearisation - and a proper end to the decades-old Korean struggle - can be on the desk in Singapore.
However, Mattis stressed out that "any discussion about the choice of US troops in the Republic of Korea is matter to... the Republic of Korea's invitation to have them there, and the discussions between the United States and the Republic of Korea, separate and distinct from the negotiations which can be occurring with DPRK (North Korea).
"That factor won't arise in the discussion with DPRK." But he added: "Obviously if the diplomats can do their paintings, if we will be able to reduce the risk, if we will be able to restore confidence construction measures with something verifiable, then in fact these types of issues can arise subsequently between (South Korea and the USA)."
Last month, South Korean President Moon Jae-in brushed aside claims that US troops stationed in the country - in keeping with Seoul's alliance with Washington - must depart if a peace treaty used to be signed with the North.
"That issue is not on the table here in Singapore on the 12th (of June), nor should it be," he mentioned on the Shangri-La Dialogue, a security summit in Singapore, regarding the scheduled date of the Trump-Kim assembly.
There are currently some 28,500 US forces based totally in the South.
Trump mentioned Friday he will meet Kim for the ancient summit as at first scheduled after atypical Oval Office talks with a top envoy from Pyongyang.
Trump advised newshounds that denuclearisation - and a proper end to the decades-old Korean struggle - can be on the desk in Singapore.
However, Mattis stressed out that "any discussion about the choice of US troops in the Republic of Korea is matter to... the Republic of Korea's invitation to have them there, and the discussions between the United States and the Republic of Korea, separate and distinct from the negotiations which can be occurring with DPRK (North Korea).
"That factor won't arise in the discussion with DPRK." But he added: "Obviously if the diplomats can do their paintings, if we will be able to reduce the risk, if we will be able to restore confidence construction measures with something verifiable, then in fact these types of issues can arise subsequently between (South Korea and the USA)."
Last month, South Korean President Moon Jae-in brushed aside claims that US troops stationed in the country - in keeping with Seoul's alliance with Washington - must depart if a peace treaty used to be signed with the North.
US troop presence in South Korea not 'on table' at Trump-Kim summit: Jim Mattis
![US troop presence in South Korea not 'on table' at Trump-Kim summit: Jim Mattis]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
June 02, 2018
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