South Korean President Moon Jae-in has dismissed claims that US troops stationed in the country would have to leave if a peace treaty was signed with the north.
Moon’s comments came after a presidential adviser publicly suggested the presence of U.S soldiers, sailors and airmen would be called into question if a peace treaty were to be agreed with Pyongyang.
Moon Chung-in had written in foreign affairs magazine that it would be “difficult to justify (U.S forces) continuing presence in South Korea” after the adoption of a peace treaty.
The blue house — president Moon’s office — has warned the adviser “not to cause any more confusion,” with such comment said spokesman Kim Eui-Kyeom.
Meanwhile, American F-22 stealth fighter jets have arrived in South Korea ahead of a joint air force drill, Seoul said Wednesday, despite a recent diplomatic thaw with Pyongyang.
The “raptor” fighters previously flew to the south in December when Seoul and Washington staged their largest-ever joint air exercise, days after North Korea test-fired a missile believed capable of hitting the U.S mainland.
The north customarily reacts with anger to the deployment of American stealth fighters, which it fears could be used for surgical strikes against its leadership and strategic facilities.
The South’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that “max thunder is a regular exercise that has been on the docket long before a planned U.S-North Korea summit.”
It urged news media to refrain from producing “speculative reports” about the intention of the deployment aside from the routine exercise. Agence France Presse
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