CHONG WA DAE, South Korea, July 10 (UPI) -- The United States has told South Korean leaders it would consider delaying a 12,500 troop withdrawal by two years, the Korea Times reported Saturday.
U.S. national Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice reportedly told President Roh Moo-hyun her nation would consider not pulling 12,500 fighters from South Korea by 2006 and instead would wait until 2007, the Times reported.
Seoul has asked the United States to postpone its withdrawal plan at least to and downscale the envisioned troop reduction.
Rice also conveyed a personal letter from President George Bush, expressing his thanks for Seoul's plan to dispatch additional troops to Iraq despite the recent beheading of a South Korean man by Iraqi militants.
