By Yoo Dong-ho
Staff Reporter

South Korea on Thursday asked the United States to delay its troop reduction on the Korean peninsula by more than a year and keep its key combat forces and heavy weaponry systems here, according to the National Defense Ministry.

``We called for the postponement of the U.S. plan to slash its troops by more than one year or until when we complete our self-reliance defense posture,’’ said a Defense Ministry official on the first day of the two-day military talks held in Seoul.

The 11th round of the Future of Alliance Policy Initiative talks, or FOTA, which began in 2002 to reshape the half-century military alliance, is drawing attention as it comes amid the U.S. move to realign its forces on the world’s last Cold War frontier.

In June, Washington said it would pull out 12,000 of its 37,500 troops stationed here by December next year, triggering security jitters among South Koreans.

A ministry official cautiously forecast that Washington might accommodate Seoul’s request by saying, ``In a recent working-level dialogue, the U.S. expressed sympathy with South Korea’s concerns about a security vacuum to be left by the envisaged postponement of the U.S. troop cut.’’

Seoul negotiators have also asked the U.S. side to not pull out its anti- North Korean artillery systems, such as MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) and Apache Helicopter units, even if it moves ahead with the troop withdrawal, according to sources.

Lending an air of optimism to the South Korean delegates, the U.S. recently shared the view that Seoul’s additional troop deployment to Iraq for U.S.-led rehabilitation efforts shored up confidence in the two nations’ alliance, according to the ministry officials.

Ahn Kwang-chan, deputy minister for policy, who also headed the latest talks in Washington in July, will represent South Korea’s negotiation team, and the U.S. side is to be led by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless, who has been the chief American delegate since the talks began.

``After consultations with the U.S. delegates, the two nations will likely hold a joint press conference on the outcome of the talks,’’ ministry spokesman Nam Dae-youn told reporters.

In a separate relocation plan, the Seoul government is poised to finalize the umbrella agreement (UA) and implementing agreement (IA) regarding the relocation of Yongsan Garrison with the provisional consensus between the two countries.

If the FOTA session manages to forge a final agreement, the UA will be ratified by the National Assembly next month after being reviewed by the National Security Council and President Roh Moo-hyun.

The relocation plan will get underway after South Korea’s Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung and ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Commander Leon J. LaPorte sign the ratified pact.

yoodh@koreatimes.co.kr