The United States officially proposes reducing its 37,000 troops in South Korea by 12,000, South Korean Yonhap News Agency quoted South Korean government source as reporting on Monday.

The proposed reduction includes 3,600 troops that Washington plans to redeploy to Iraq in a few months, a high-level government official said on condition of anonymity.

The proposal was delivered when senior officials of the allies met secretly in Seoul on last Sunday, the official said.