Kim Dae-jung: U.S. Military Will Stay After Unification

People’s Daily, 10 July 2000

President Kim Dae-jung on July 8 stated that the American troops should remain in Korea even after unification.

At a reception for the U.S. Congress Taekwondo club held at Chong Wa Dae and attended by four U.S. congressmen, including the well-known political activist Jesse Jackson, President Kim asserted that maintaining the strong alliance between South Korea and the U.S. is essential to his policy to embrace North Korea.

President Kim explained that the most significant aspect of relations between South and North Korea is that they together engender a peaceful environment in which they can make cultural exchanges and cooperate with each other without the threat of war. Unification should be considered only after a period of peaceful coexistence.