South Korea Wants US Troops to Stay

 

South Korea said on Wednesday that U.S. troops should stay in the country, even if a peace treaty is signed with North Korea.

Kim Eui-kyeom is a spokesperson for South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in. Kim was responding to reporters’ questions about a recent column written by a presidential adviser¹. It said that if a peace treaty was signed, justifying³ the presence of U.S. forces in South Korea would be difficult.

Kim said, "U.S. 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."

Another presidential official added that South Korea wants the U.S. to stay because its forces act as a mediator⁴ in case of military conflicts between powers such as China and Japan.

The United States currently has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. American soldiers have been stationed there since the Korean War, which ended in 1953. North Korea has long demanded their withdrawal⁵ as one of the conditions for giving up its nuclear and missile programs.

However, U.S. troops were not discussed in last week's declaration by Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The two leaders said they would work for the "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula.

The North Korean leader is also expected to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump⁶ in late May or June.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

column – n. an article in a newspaper or magazine

justify² – v. to provide a good reason for

peninsula – n. a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water and is attached to a larger land area

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

3 justifying   

证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护）

参考例句：

• He admitted it without justifying it. 他不加辩解地承认这个想法。
• The fellow-travellers'service usually consisted of justifying all the tergiversations of Soviet intenal and foreign policy. 同路人的服务通常包括对苏联国内外政策中一切互相矛盾之处进行辩护。

4 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。