https://www.military.com/daily-news...l-table-if-korea-peace-deal-solid-mattis.html
Troop Withdrawal On Table If Korea Peace Deal Is Solid: Mattis
Military.com 28 Apr 2018 By Richard Sisk
U.S. troop withdrawal could be up for negotiation if North Korea and South Korea can solidify a lasting peace deal, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday.
Mattis was cautious in his response to a question on the potential for withdrawals following the historic meeting Friday of the leaders of North and South Korea.
"That's part of the issues that we'll be discussing in negotiations with our allies first, and of course with North Korea," he said.
He made no predictions on the status of the 28,000 U.S. troops now stationed in South Korea.
"I think for right now we just have to go along with the process, have the negotiations and not try to make pre-conditions or presumptions about how it's going to go," he said.
"The diplomats are going to have to go to work now," Mattis said at the Pentagon after an honor cordon for visiting Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
The prospect that a U.S. Secretary of Defense would have entertained even the vaguest thought of troop withdrawal from the peninsula would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago, but North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's attempted transformation from dictator and nuclear bully to potential peace partner has altered the diplomatic and military equation.
"We will build, through confidence building measures, a degree of trust to go forward. So we'll see how things go," Mattis said. "I don't have a crystal ball. I can tell you we are optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950," when the Korean War started.
Last week, the U.S. held a drill for the evacuation of civilian personnel from South Korea in the event of war. On Friday, a smiling Kim stepped across a line in the Demilitarized Zone and was greeted by a beaming South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
They shook hands, took a walk together, planted a tree together and later signed the "Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula."
The declaration held out the possibility for the denuclearization of the peninsula and a formal end to the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice in 1953.
The Kim-Moon meeting also set the stage for a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump at the end of May or early June. A site for the talks has yet to be determined.
"We seek a future of peace, prosperity, and harmony for the whole Korean Peninsula unlocking, not only a brighter future for the people of Korea, but for the people of the world," Trump said at the White House. "However, in pursuit of that goal, we will not repeat the mistake of past administrations. Maximum pressure will continue until denuclearization occurs."
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at [email protected].
https://news.am/eng/news/448678.html
Defense secretary not speaking about future US military presence on Korean Peninsula
09:39, 28.04.2018
Region:World News
Theme: Politics
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Friday deferred questions about the future US military presence on the Korean Peninsula to diplomats, whom he said would deal with that and other issues should there be a peace agreement with North Korea, reported Reuters.
“So I think for right now we just have to go along with the process, have the negotiations and not try to make preconditions or presumptions about how it is going to go,” Mattis told reporters. “The diplomats are going to have to go to work now.”
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https://sputniknews.com/military/201804281063982924-us-troops-removal-discussed/
US Troop Removal From Korea Up for Talks With Allies, N. Korea – Mattis
© REUTERS / Mike Blake
Military & Intelligence
03:09 28.04.2018(updated 08:01 28.04.2018) Get short URL
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WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Withdrawing US troops from the Korean Peninsula would be discussed with allies if North Korea demanded it as part of reaching a peace agreement, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said during a meeting with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Pentagon.
"Well, that's part of the issues that we'll be discussing in the negotiations with our allies first and, of course, with North Korea," the release said on Friday.
© REUTERS / Korea Summit Press Pool
North Korea's Leader Kim Jong-un Meets South Korea's President Moon Jae-in
19
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are scheduled to meet in May or early June regarding the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Both leaders will enter negotiations to permanently shut down the North Korea’s nuclear program.
The United States had engaged in a maximum pressure campaign against North Korea and led the international community to impose multiple rounds of sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Earlier on Friday, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a summit at the Demilitarized Zone where they signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula. The document commits the two countries to a nuclear-free peninsula and talks to bring a formal end to the Korean War.
The situation on the Korean peninsula escalated in the past two years due to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests, which led to heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/28/c_137143581.htm
U.S. to discuss army stationing on Korean Peninsula with allies, DPRK: Mattis
Source: Xinhua 2018-04-28 13:22:59
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Friday that the United States will discuss with allies and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) the need for U.S. troops to stay stationed on the Korean Peninsula.
The army stationing issue is part of the problems that Washington will discuss in the negotiations with allies first and then with the DPRK, Mattis said while meeting with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Pentagon.
He added that the United States "will build, through confidence-building measures, a degree of trust if it's going to go forward," referring to the dialogue with the DPRK on the denuclearization issue.
U.S. President Donald Trump in March threatened to withdraw troops from the Korean Peninsula in an attempt widely seen to pressure Seoul to make concessions in bilateral trade dialogues.
"We have a very big trade deficit with them, and we protect them," Trump said in a fund-raising speech in the U.S. state of Missouri. "We lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military."
The U.S. troops have stayed in South Korea ever since the signing of an armistice treaty at the end of 1950-1953 Korean War.
Bilateral relations have been strained over issues like defense burden sharing, the U.S. army's harassment of South Korean civilians and Seoul's initiative to take back the war-time command control from Washington, among others.
https://www.rt.com/usa/425362-us-discuss-troop-withdrawl-north-korea/
Withdrawing US troops from S. Korea may be discussed with allies & North – Mattis
Published time: 28 Apr, 2018 05:07 Edited time: 28 Apr, 2018 09:17
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© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
Asked if US forces will remain in South Korea provided Seoul and Pyongyang replace their 1953 truce with a formal peace treaty, Mattis indicated that the continued US military presence in South Korea may become a part of the bargain with the North.
"Well, that's part of the issues that we'll be discussing in the negotiations with our allies first and, of course, with North Korea," he said, speaking alongside Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Pentagon on Friday.
Read more
Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump among Nobel Peace Prize favorites, says UK betting agency
Mattis then appeared to take a step back, saying that "for now, we have to go along with the process…and not try to make preconditions or presumptions about how it's going to go."
Responding to the question of whether he trusts North Korea's assertions of a new-found aim for peace and denuclearization, Mattis noted that "we are optimistic right now that there's opportunity that we have never enjoyed since 1950 [the beginning of the Korean war]," but added that he doesn't have "a crystal ball" to foretell where the current rapprochement leads.
The statement comes in the wake of Friday's historic meeting between North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, where they signed a declaration reiterating their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the whole peninsula and expressed hope that they can seal a peace accord by the end of the year through multi-party negotiations involving Washington and, possibly, Beijing.
Pyongyang previously indicated that it would only be ready to disarm if its safety is guaranteed and saber-rattling by the US, which has held numerous drills with South Korea at the North Korean border over the years, stops.
While it is the first official acknowledgment by Washington that its large garrison stationed in South Korea may become a concession to Pyongyang, US President Donald Trump reportedly touted the idea during a fundraiser in March. At the time, Trump linked the prospect of the US troops withdrawal to economic issues.
Read more
Trump hails ‘historic’ Korea peace agreement
"We have a very big trade deficit with them [South Korea], and we protect them. We lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military. We have right now 32,000 soldiers on the border between North and South Korea. Let's see what happens," he said, The Washington Post reported, citing an audio recording of the meeting.
READ MORE: Peace breaks out on the Korean peninsula despite – not because of – Washington hawks
The US president, who is expected to hold his own summit with the North Korean leader in May or June, offered cautious praise of the talks, noting on Twitter that "good things are happening, but only time will tell."
Troop Withdrawal On Table If Korea Peace Deal Is Solid: Mattis
Military.com 28 Apr 2018 By Richard Sisk
U.S. troop withdrawal could be up for negotiation if North Korea and South Korea can solidify a lasting peace deal, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday.
Mattis was cautious in his response to a question on the potential for withdrawals following the historic meeting Friday of the leaders of North and South Korea.
"That's part of the issues that we'll be discussing in negotiations with our allies first, and of course with North Korea," he said.
He made no predictions on the status of the 28,000 U.S. troops now stationed in South Korea.
"I think for right now we just have to go along with the process, have the negotiations and not try to make pre-conditions or presumptions about how it's going to go," he said.
"The diplomats are going to have to go to work now," Mattis said at the Pentagon after an honor cordon for visiting Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
The prospect that a U.S. Secretary of Defense would have entertained even the vaguest thought of troop withdrawal from the peninsula would have been unthinkable only a few weeks ago, but North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's attempted transformation from dictator and nuclear bully to potential peace partner has altered the diplomatic and military equation.
"We will build, through confidence building measures, a degree of trust to go forward. So we'll see how things go," Mattis said. "I don't have a crystal ball. I can tell you we are optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950," when the Korean War started.
Last week, the U.S. held a drill for the evacuation of civilian personnel from South Korea in the event of war. On Friday, a smiling Kim stepped across a line in the Demilitarized Zone and was greeted by a beaming South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
They shook hands, took a walk together, planted a tree together and later signed the "Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula."
The declaration held out the possibility for the denuclearization of the peninsula and a formal end to the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice in 1953.
The Kim-Moon meeting also set the stage for a summit between Kim and President Donald Trump at the end of May or early June. A site for the talks has yet to be determined.
"We seek a future of peace, prosperity, and harmony for the whole Korean Peninsula unlocking, not only a brighter future for the people of Korea, but for the people of the world," Trump said at the White House. "However, in pursuit of that goal, we will not repeat the mistake of past administrations. Maximum pressure will continue until denuclearization occurs."
-- Richard Sisk can be reached at [email protected].
https://news.am/eng/news/448678.html
Defense secretary not speaking about future US military presence on Korean Peninsula
09:39, 28.04.2018
Region:World News
Theme: Politics
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Friday deferred questions about the future US military presence on the Korean Peninsula to diplomats, whom he said would deal with that and other issues should there be a peace agreement with North Korea, reported Reuters.
“So I think for right now we just have to go along with the process, have the negotiations and not try to make preconditions or presumptions about how it is going to go,” Mattis told reporters. “The diplomats are going to have to go to work now.”
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https://sputniknews.com/military/201804281063982924-us-troops-removal-discussed/
US Troop Removal From Korea Up for Talks With Allies, N. Korea – Mattis
© REUTERS / Mike Blake
Military & Intelligence
03:09 28.04.2018(updated 08:01 28.04.2018) Get short URL
32521
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Withdrawing US troops from the Korean Peninsula would be discussed with allies if North Korea demanded it as part of reaching a peace agreement, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said during a meeting with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Pentagon.
"Well, that's part of the issues that we'll be discussing in the negotiations with our allies first and, of course, with North Korea," the release said on Friday.
© REUTERS / Korea Summit Press Pool
North Korea's Leader Kim Jong-un Meets South Korea's President Moon Jae-in
19
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are scheduled to meet in May or early June regarding the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Both leaders will enter negotiations to permanently shut down the North Korea’s nuclear program.
The United States had engaged in a maximum pressure campaign against North Korea and led the international community to impose multiple rounds of sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Earlier on Friday, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a summit at the Demilitarized Zone where they signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula. The document commits the two countries to a nuclear-free peninsula and talks to bring a formal end to the Korean War.
The situation on the Korean peninsula escalated in the past two years due to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests, which led to heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-04/28/c_137143581.htm
U.S. to discuss army stationing on Korean Peninsula with allies, DPRK: Mattis
Source: Xinhua 2018-04-28 13:22:59
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Friday that the United States will discuss with allies and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) the need for U.S. troops to stay stationed on the Korean Peninsula.
The army stationing issue is part of the problems that Washington will discuss in the negotiations with allies first and then with the DPRK, Mattis said while meeting with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Pentagon.
He added that the United States "will build, through confidence-building measures, a degree of trust if it's going to go forward," referring to the dialogue with the DPRK on the denuclearization issue.
U.S. President Donald Trump in March threatened to withdraw troops from the Korean Peninsula in an attempt widely seen to pressure Seoul to make concessions in bilateral trade dialogues.
"We have a very big trade deficit with them, and we protect them," Trump said in a fund-raising speech in the U.S. state of Missouri. "We lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military."
The U.S. troops have stayed in South Korea ever since the signing of an armistice treaty at the end of 1950-1953 Korean War.
Bilateral relations have been strained over issues like defense burden sharing, the U.S. army's harassment of South Korean civilians and Seoul's initiative to take back the war-time command control from Washington, among others.
https://www.rt.com/usa/425362-us-discuss-troop-withdrawl-north-korea/
Withdrawing US troops from S. Korea may be discussed with allies & North – Mattis
Published time: 28 Apr, 2018 05:07 Edited time: 28 Apr, 2018 09:17
Get short URL
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
- 782
Asked if US forces will remain in South Korea provided Seoul and Pyongyang replace their 1953 truce with a formal peace treaty, Mattis indicated that the continued US military presence in South Korea may become a part of the bargain with the North.
"Well, that's part of the issues that we'll be discussing in the negotiations with our allies first and, of course, with North Korea," he said, speaking alongside Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at the Pentagon on Friday.
Read more
Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump among Nobel Peace Prize favorites, says UK betting agency Mattis then appeared to take a step back, saying that "for now, we have to go along with the process…and not try to make preconditions or presumptions about how it's going to go."
Responding to the question of whether he trusts North Korea's assertions of a new-found aim for peace and denuclearization, Mattis noted that "we are optimistic right now that there's opportunity that we have never enjoyed since 1950 [the beginning of the Korean war]," but added that he doesn't have "a crystal ball" to foretell where the current rapprochement leads.
The statement comes in the wake of Friday's historic meeting between North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, where they signed a declaration reiterating their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the whole peninsula and expressed hope that they can seal a peace accord by the end of the year through multi-party negotiations involving Washington and, possibly, Beijing.
Pyongyang previously indicated that it would only be ready to disarm if its safety is guaranteed and saber-rattling by the US, which has held numerous drills with South Korea at the North Korean border over the years, stops.
While it is the first official acknowledgment by Washington that its large garrison stationed in South Korea may become a concession to Pyongyang, US President Donald Trump reportedly touted the idea during a fundraiser in March. At the time, Trump linked the prospect of the US troops withdrawal to economic issues.
Read more
Trump hails ‘historic’ Korea peace agreement "We have a very big trade deficit with them [South Korea], and we protect them. We lose money on trade, and we lose money on the military. We have right now 32,000 soldiers on the border between North and South Korea. Let's see what happens," he said, The Washington Post reported, citing an audio recording of the meeting.
READ MORE: Peace breaks out on the Korean peninsula despite – not because of – Washington hawks
The US president, who is expected to hold his own summit with the North Korean leader in May or June, offered cautious praise of the talks, noting on Twitter that "good things are happening, but only time will tell."
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