S. Korea, Japan guarded over Trump’s foreign policy plans

SEOUL: South Korea and Japan offered muted reactions Monday to Donald Trump’s suggestion that, as president, he would withdraw troops from both countries and allow them to develop their own nuclear arsenal.

There are nearly 30,000 US troops permanently stationed in South Korea and 47,000 in Japan, with little appetite for nuclear weapons in either nation.

Asked to respond to Trump’s ‘America first’ policy to wean nations off US support, South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang- Gyun said it would be inappropriate to comment on remarks by a US presidential candidate.

But he stressed there was no change to Seoul’s position that the South Korea-US Mutual Defence Treaty remained the bedrock of the alliance with Washington.

Japan’s top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga also declined to react directly to Trump’s comments, published Saturday in the New York Times, but insisted the military alliance with Washington was crucial and enduring.

“It is the main pillar of Japan’s foreign policy and extremely important for the prosperity and safety of the Asia-Pacific region and the world,” Suga told reporters.

He said Japan would maintain its policies against nuclear possession and production, and a ban on foreign nuclear weapons on its territory.

Support for a nuclear- armed South Korea is a minority voice in the country – although one that grows louder after every nuclear test by North Korea.

Japan is widely seen as having the know-how to produce nuclear arms but, as the only country to have suffered an atomic attack, public opinion is strongly opposed to such a move.