SEOUL, April 14 (UPI) -- The United States reportedly plans to withdraw most if its forces this year from the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.
Quoting an official, the World Tribune.com said Wednesday the withdrawal means the United States will no longer have combat troops anywhere on the DMZ except at Panmunjom.
In Panmunjom, a U.S.-Korean battalion, commanded by a U.S. army lieutenant colonel, remains on guard in what is known as the Joint Security Area.
The United States has about 37,000 troops stationed in South Korea, but has long kept fewer than 200 soldiers along the DMZ, at Observation Post Ouellette and Panmunjom, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Deborah Bertrand, a spokeswoman for U.S. Forces Korea.
After the withdrawal, South Korea with a 600,000-man military will North Korea, which has the world's fifth largest military with 1.1 million soldiers, most of them concentrated near the DMZ, the report said.
The United States will turn over Observation Post Ouellette, which provides a view into North Korea, as part of a force reshuffle, the official said.
