Seoul says it hasn’t discussed possible withdrawal of US troops with Washington



News Seoul says it hasn’t discussed possible withdrawal of US troops with Washington Statement follows report that Pentagon is considering relocating 4,500 soldiers deployed to counter North Korea Jooheon Kim \| Shreyas Reddy May 23, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON A U.S. soldier undergoing firearm training. \| Image: U.S. Forces Korea shared via Facebook (Feb. 18, 2025) The U.S. and South Korea have not had any discussions about the possible withdrawal of American troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula to deter North Korean aggression, Seoul’s defense ministry said Friday, following a report that Washington is considering reducing its military presence. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Pentagon is preparing an option to relocate around 4,500 of the approximately 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to bases in Guam and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region. The report, citing two officials, said the option is one of several under consideration as “part of an informal © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. Get the Daily Update Start your day with the North Korea stories that matter most – as selected by Trending

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Seoul says it hasn’t discussed possible withdrawal of US troops with Washington

Statement follows report that Pentagon is considering relocating 4,500 soldiers deployed to counter North Korea

Jooheon Kim | Shreyas Reddy May 23, 2025

Seoul says it hasn’t discussed possible withdrawal of US troops with Washington

A U.S. soldier undergoing firearm training. | Image: U.S. Forces Korea shared via Facebook (Feb. 18, 2025)

The U.S. and South Korea have not had any discussions about the possible withdrawal of American troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula to deter North Korean aggression, Seoul’s defense ministry said Friday, following a report that Washington is considering reducing its military presence.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Pentagon is preparing an option to relocate around 4,500 of the approximately 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to bases in Guam and elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region.

The report, citing two officials, said the option is one of several under consideration as “part of an informal

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Jooheon Kim

Jooheon Kim is a Correspondent at NK News. He previously worked at Aju News Corporation where he covered South Korea's economy and tech sectors, K-pop and inter-Korean relations.

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Shreyas Reddy

Shreyas Reddy is the Lead Correspondent at NK News, based in Seoul. He previously worked as a researcher at BBC Monitoring, where his work focused on news and key people and organizations from the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Follow him on Twitter.

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