The Ministry of National Defense of South Korea said on April 18 that the number of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) troops maintains at 28,500.
The ministry's announcement was released in response to some media reports claiming that the number of U.S. troops here reduced to 26,305 in 2009 based on the Base Structure Report by the Pentagon. The ministry also said that there is no change in the number of U.S. troops in South Korea according to a status report of USFK military capabilities.
"The number written on the Pentagon's report is not an actual number of troops but total figure that is estimated based on a scale of facilities they can be accommodated," said a defense official at the ministry.
Even though the number of South Korean and U.S. troops here have been steadily decreased since 2000, Seoul and Washington had agreed during a summit talks between leaders of two countries in April 2008 to maintain the number of U.S. troops in South Korea at 28,500 under a decision that joint defense capabilities should not be weakened when North Korea keep on making military provocations.
RoK MoD
