Rumsfeld arrives in Seoul for military meeting

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 17, 2003

Rumsfeld arrives in Seoul for military meeting

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Seoul on Sunday evening for a two-day military meeting with his South Korean counterpart from the coming Monday.

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US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Seoul on Sunday evening for a two-day military meeting with his South Korean counterpart from the coming Monday.

Rumsfeld will hold talks with South Korean Defense Minister ChoYoung-kil during the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) here to discuss realignment of US troops in South Korea and dispatch of more South Korean troops to Iraq, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

On the coming Monday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will meet the US senior military official on the above-mentioned matters.

Washington and Seoul earlier this year agreed to relocate the US Forces Korea. Before his visit here, Rumsfeld said that one of his top tasks during his South Korean trip is to discuss reductionof the US troops in South Korea.

The United States now stations some 37,000 troops in South Korea.

Also on the top of the SCM talks agenda is Seoul's decision to send more troops to Iraq at the request of the United States. Roh Moo-hyun has reportedly given guideline to his government of sending no more than 3,000 troops, most of which are non-combatants, to the Middle East country.

However, it seemed that Washington wants Seoul to send larger one and most of which are combatants.

It is Rumsfeld's first trip to South Korea after he took office of the US defense secretary. Before arriving in Seoul, Rumsfeld has visited Japan.

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