Trump pledges to defend South Korea in phone call with Park, as Pyongyang urges policy shift

US President-elect Donald Trump pledged his commitment to defend South Korea under an existing security alliance during a phone call with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Thursday, Yonhap news agency said, citing diplomatic sources.

Trump had suggested during the election campaign he would be willing to withdraw US military stationed in South Korea unless Seoul paid a greater share of the cost of the deployment. There are about 28,500 US troops based in South Korea in combined defence against North Korea.

Park’s office said she spoke by phone with Trump Thursday morning Hong Kong time, but could not immediately confirm what was discussed.

During the call which lasted just over 10 minutes, Trump said the United States would maintain a strong defence posture to protect South Korea, Yonhap cited unnamed diplomatic sources as saying.

It came as North Korea on Thursday warned the incoming Trump administration will have to deal with a “nuclear state”, saying Washington’s push for denuclearisation was an “outdated illusion”.

“If there is anything the Obama administration has done... it has put the security of the US mainland in the greatest danger,” said an editorial carried by the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.