TROOPS BASED IN KOREA

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28528, 6 March 1958, Page 11

TROOPS BASED IN KOREA

Reply To Demand By China (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) (Rec. 830 p.m.) WASHINGTON, March 4. The 16 nations which contributed troops to the United Nations forces during the Korean war today decided to send a joint reply to recent Communist demands for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Korea. Diplomatic representatives of these 16 nation* made the decision at a meeting at the State Department late today presided over by Mr Walter Robertson? the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Far-Eastern Affairs. Communist China last month backed a proposal by North Korea that all foreign troops should be withdrawn from Korea and that reunification of that country should be achieved through elections supervised by neutral nations.

The Chinese Communists subsequently ' announced that they would withdraw their estimated 300,000 troops still remaining in North Korea, with this withdrawal to be completed by the end of 1958.

Mr Robertson said after the State Department meeting that all aspects of the Korean problem had been discussed, including the questions of troop withdrawal and reunification. He said there was no disagreement among the Allied nations. “We are working on a reply which will be made jointly, within the framework of the United Nations,” Mr Robertscn said. He declined to disclose the nature of the reply.