N. Korea calls for removal of U.S. troops following peace proposal

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea renewed its call Thursday for the
withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea, days after it proposed talks on
formally ending the Korean War that has served as the basis for the continued
military presence.
About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the
1950-53 Korean War that technically continues to this day because it ended in a
truce.
North Korea proposed talks Monday on replacing the truce with a peace pact,
saying U.S. hostilities against it arise from the armistice. Analysts say such
talks could lead the North to step up its longstanding demand that the U.S.
troops be removed from the South.
Washington and Seoul have brushed aside the demand, while saying no peace talks
will be considered until the North returns to the stalled six-nation talks on its
nuclear weapons programs.
"Without the withdrawal of U.S. troops, no autonomy will be guaranteed for the
people of South Korea," the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling
Workers' Party, said in an editorial released through the official Korean Central
News Agency.
South Koreans should campaign to "uproot U.S. invasion forces from their country
and stop joint exercises that cast the shadow of nuclear warfare," it said.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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