WORLD : Cheney Stands by S. Korea
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SEOUL — Defense Secretary Dick Cheney promised “unequivocal” support for South Korea today while bracing for a cooler reception in the Philippines, where President Corazon Aquino has pointedly declined to meet Cheney when he arrives this weekend.
“The U.S. commitment to Korea remains firm and unequivocal. U.S. troops will remain in Korea as long as they are needed to guarantee the peace and the Korean and American peoples and governments want them to remain,” Cheney said after a review of a Korean color guard at the Seoul air base.
Cheney also offered assurances that there will be no “drastic reduction” of the 43,000 U.S. troops that have been based in Korea under a 1954 mutual defense treaty.
Although Cheney has repeatedly refused to set a precise figure on any plans for troop withdrawals in Korea, he’s under pressure on Capitol Hill to bring home at least 5,000 of the 43,000 U.S. soldiers.
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