U.S. Not Considering Reduction in Forces in S. Korea: Mattis

June 15, 2018

Tokyo- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Thursday that his country is not considering a reduction in its forces in South Korea.

Mattis made the comments after his Japanese counterpart, Itsunori Onodera, asked the United States to maintain its forces in South Korea during their phone talks.

Onodera told Mattis that U.S. forces in South Korea play an important security role in East Asia.

The conversations came after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his wish to pull U.S. troops out of South Korea during a press conference following his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore Tuesday.

The Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs confirmed that their countries will continue to pursue North Korea's complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges.

Onodera and Mattis also agreed to keep vigilance on North Korea's ship-to-ship transfers of goods intended to avoid international sanctions imposed over its nuclear and missile programs. Jiji Press