Reports: South Korea may ask U.S. to pause troop drawdown

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Reports: South Korea may ask U.S. to pause troop drawdown
By Ashley Rowland and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 9, 2008

SEOUL — South Korean defense officials will ask the United States on Tuesday for a pause in the drawdown of U.S. troops stationed here, according to numerous South Korean media reports.

The reports, which cited anonymous South Korean defense officials, come less than a month after U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell told a congressional committee that he expects South Korea’s new president to ask for the pause so the countries can study the future of the drawdown.

Bell testified March 12 that President Lee Myung-bak could make the request as early as April, when Lee is scheduled to meet with President Bush at Camp David.

“If he does ask for that pause, I think it would be prudent for the United States to agree to sit down and discuss the issue,” Bell said.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are currently stationed in South Korea, down from 37,000 about four years ago. About 25,000 are to remain when the drawdown is complete.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53912