The US Ministry of Defense has denied publications in the media about the possible withdrawal of thousands of American military personnel from South Korea.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in the publication on the social network X noted that the information published in the article by the newspaper Wall Street Journal under the heading “is planned to withdraw thousands of American soldiers from South Korea” does not correspond to reality.
“Messages about the reduction of the US contingent in South Korea do not correspond to reality,” he stressed, adding that the union between the United States and South Korea remains strong, and cooperation in the field of defense and security will continue.
The statement of the Ministry of Defense of South Korea says that Seoul and Washington did not negotiate about the possible withdrawal of the American military from the country.
Earlier, the United States and South Korea agreed on the five -year plan for the distribution of defense costs, which will enter into force in 2024.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump advocated that a significant part of the costs of maintaining American troops in South Korea falls on the shoulders of the South Korean government. Trump also noted that the cost of the presence of American troops in the region will be taken into account during the ongoing trade negotiations between the two countries.
WSJ: The United States is considering a revision of the military presence in South Korea
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) previously reported that the Trump administration is considering the possibility of withdrawing thousands of American military personnel from South Korea.
According to the sources with which the publication communicated, one of the options developed by the Pentagon implies the withdrawal of about 4,500 military personnel with their subsequent placement in other areas of the Indo-Tikhookean region, in particular on the island of Guam.
Since the first term of the presidency, Donald Trump has repeatedly raised the question of revising the presence of the American military contingent in South Korea. Currently, there are about 28,500 American soldiers in the region.