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South Korean President Moon Jae-in presides over a meeting with senior secretaries and aides on Apr. 30 at the Blue House’s Yeomin Pavilion. (Blue House photo pool)
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South Korean president works to prevent partisan controversy regarding US Forces Korea presence
On May 2, South Korean President Moon Jae-in categorically stated that the question of whether American troops would remain in South Korea after the signing of a peace treaty is ”completely unrelated to the signing of a peace treaty.” This appears to reflect President Moon’s determination to not give conservatives and progressives any excuse for bickering and to eliminate the possibility of misunderstanding leading up to the North Korea-US summit in May. “I will convey what President Moon personally said about the article about US Forces Korea by Moon Chung-in [a special advisor to the president on unification, foreign affairs and national security]. [President Moon] said that US Forces Korea are a matter concerning the South Korea-US alliance and that they are completely unrelated to the signing of a peace treaty,” Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyum said during the briefing on the morning of May 2. “President Moon said during this morning’s teatime with his advisors,” Kim added. “What will happen to US forces in South Korea if a peace treaty is signed? It will be difficult to justify their continuing presence in South Korea after its adoption. But there will be strong conservative opposition to the reduction and withdrawal of US forces, posing a major political dilemma for Moon,” Moon Chung-in wrote in an article titled “A Real Path to Peace on the Korean Peninsula” that was published in the American journal Foreign Affairs on Apr. 30. “Im Jong-seok, the president’s chief of staff, called Moon Chung-in and communicated the president’s message and asked him to make sure not to create any confusion about the president’s position,” Kim said. When asked about the possibility of Moon resigning from his position as special presidential advisor, Kim said that was not being considered. President Moon’s view is that American troops will have to remain on the Korean Peninsula even after a peace treaty is made. “Just like former president Kim Dae-jung, President Moon holds that US Forces Korea are needed as a balancer in Northeast Asia even after the peace treaty is signed,” said a senior official at the Blue House. This view was reiterated by another senior official at the Blue House, who said that “the government’s position is that American troops need to remain stationed here.” US troop presence was not an issue during prior summits During the first inter-Korean summit in 2000, former president Kim Dae-jung gave former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il the following explanation of the status of US Forces Korea: “Currently, they are here as a deterrent against North Korea, but if the North Korean nuclear issue is resolved and North Korea and the US normalize diplomatic relations, they can serve as a balancing force in the arms race in Northeast Asia.” In a luncheon with news media CEOs on Mar. 19, President Moon said that North Korea “is not offering conditions that are unacceptable to the US, such as the removal of US troops,” as a condition for denuclearization. While on a visit to Camp Humphreys (an American base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province) in Nov. 2017, President Moon said that “US Forces Korea are the solid foundation and the future of the South Korea-US alliance.” President Moon’s direct, quick and clear expression of his view about the presence of US Forces Korea appears to reflect his intention to minimize unnecessary confusion and contention shortly before the North Korea-US summit. “Leading up to the North Korea-US summit, the atmosphere at the Blue House is that we’re cradling something fragile, navigating a minefield or walking on eggshells. At such an extremely sensitive time, we don’t want the conservatives to launch a time-consuming debate about this issue,” said a senior official at the Blue House. President Moon has asked on several occasions for “national unity” during the inter-Korean summit and the North Korea-US summit. “If you look at the Panmunjeom Declaration, North Korea didn’t bring up the issue of removing US troops from Korea. The position of the South Korean government is that the US troop presence is a matter that concerns South Korea and the US and that North Korea has no say in the matter. Kim Jong-un doesn’t seem to regard American troops as an obstacle to making a peace treaty either,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. By Seong Yeon-cheol, staff reporter, and Park Byong-su, senior staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
