SEOUL: South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday dismissed claims that US troops stationed in the country would have to leave if a peace treaty was signed with the North. It has nothing to do with signing a peace treaty,” Moon said, referring to the agreement that sees 28,500 US forces based in the South. Moon’s comments came after a presidential adviser publicly suggested the presence of US 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 [US forces] continuing presence in South Korea” after the adoption of a peace treaty. “Max Thunder is a regular exercise that has been on the docket long before a planned US-North Korea summit,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

Source: Manila Times May 02, 2018 06:00 UTC