TOKYO -- Chinese Defense Minister Geng Biao demanded withdrawal of U.S troops from South Korea and said China and North Korea will share 'life and death ... in the same boat' no matter what the future holds, the official North Korean news agency reported today.
Geng's remarks at a mass rally in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang Sunday were reported by theofficial North Korean Central News Agency in a dispatch received in Tokyo.
'The United States must immediately withdraw its troops and military equipment from South Korea,' the report quoted Deng as saying.
He said the U.S. presence in South Korea is a big hurdle in the way of dialogue and reunification between South and North Korea.
'No matter what storm and change may come in the world in the future, the Chinese people and army will as ever unite with the Korean people and army, sharing life and death with them in the same boat,' Geng said.
