South Korea wants US troops to stay regardless of peace treaty

South Korea wants US forces to stay even if a peace treaty with North Korea is signed because they act as a mediator between neighbouring powers China and Japan, government officials said on Wednesday.

“US troops stationed in South Korea are an issue regarding the alliance between South Korea and the United States. It has nothing to do with signing peace treaties,” Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, told reporters. He said he was quoting president Moon Jae-in.

The US fought alongside South Korea in the Korean War (1950-53) and currently has around 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, most of them stationed near the demilitarised zone (DMZ) dividing the peninsula. The North believes the US wants to invade the South and has long demanded the troops be removed as a condition for giving up its nuclear programme and its missile testing.

The troops did not come up during last week’s joint declaration by the two countries, which promised to strive for a “complete denuclearisation” of the Korean peninsula and to sign a formal peace treaty to end the Korean War, replacing the armistice that ended hostilities.

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The answer was in response to a question about a column written by South Korean presidential adviser and academic Moon Chung-in, which said it would be difficult to justify the presence of US forces in South Korea if a peace treaty was signed after last week’s summit.

A senior Blue House official also said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un understood that that the process of the North’s denuclearisation involved inspection and verification.

“It is nonsense to seek a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without inspection and verification,” the official told reporters, quoted on South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. “The North’s leader appears to adequately understand [THAT)].”

The North has already offered to close down its nuclear test site at Punggye-ri as early as this month and will make public its dismantlement by inviting security experts and journalists to the North.

The debate now is on what happens next in the Korean peace process and whether there will be trilateral meetings involving the two Koreas and the US or four-way talks also joined by China.

Mr Moon has also requested that the United Nations play a role in verifying North Korea’s commitment to denuclearisation and peace on the peninsula.

US president Donald Trump is expected to meet Mr Kim this month or next for a summit. A venue has not been announced although Mr Trump said this week that he believes holding talks at the DMZ was a good idea as it meant any deal would take place on Korean territory.

Other venues suggested include Singapore and the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.