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Seoul asks Washington to delay withdrawal of troops

South Korea is asking the US to delay plans to slash the number of US troops based on the divided Korean Peninsula during talks that started yesterday on the future of their military cooperation, a government official said.

Washington has notified Seoul of its plans to withdraw 12,500 of about 37,000 US troops stationed in South Korea by the end of next year, forcing South Korea's military to shoulder more responsibility for defending against any military aggression from North Korea.

Some 3,600 Americans have already been sent from South Korea to Iraq.

``We want the United States to delay the plan a little bit more, and we plan to make such request at today's talks,'' a Defense Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Local media have reported that Seoul wants the plan to be postponed by more than a year.

US Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless will lead the American delegation during the two-day talks in Seoul.

During talks last month in Washington, US and South Korean officials agreed to move all 8,000 US military personnel currently based in Seoul to another city south of the capital by the end of 2008.

US troops have been stationed here since the 1950-53 Korean War in a bid to deter any possible attack from the North.

The US soldiers, and an additional 650,000 troops from South Korea, remain on a war footing with the North because the war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, meaning the two Koreas are technically still at war.

The planned US troop reduction is seen as part of Washing-ton's global effort to realign its forces so they can better respond to emergencies worldwide.

Earlier this week, US President George W. Bush announced a plan to withdraw up to 70,000 US troops from Cold War bases in Europe and Asia.

Opposition presidential candidate John Kerry blasted the plan to pullback on the Korean Peninsula, saying it would embolden nuclear-armed North Korea while the international community is seeking to persuade it to give up its nuclear program.

Bush administration officials argue that although the number of US troops in South Korea will decrease, the defense capabilities of the allies won't be weakened.

Also see story:
Troop redeployment ill-advised: Kerry
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