Roh Wants to Retain U.S. : Troops After Reunification : South Korea: Pentagon spokesman says, ‘We wouldn’t rule it out.’

SEOUL —  South Korean President Roh Tae Woo said Thursday that U.S. troops should remain in South Korea even after the reunification of the north and south, which he hopes will come in this decade.

In an interview, Roh said Communist North Korea seems unlikely to make new terrorist attacks against South Korean targets and that he has “never considered” military force necessary to pressure the north to accept international nuclear inspections.

Roh’s comments on U.S. forces differed sharply from the views of North Korea, which bitterly opposes the American presence in the south. Both Koreas are committed in principle to reunification, but have yet to decide how it might occur or whether U.S. troops would leave.

Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams said of Roh’s statement: “We wouldn’t rule it out. Any such future arrangement would have to be worked out with the Koreans.”

On Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung declared that foreign “imperialists,” a reference to the United States, are still scheming to dominate the Korean Peninsula.

The United States has 39,000 troops in South Korea and plans to reduce the number to 36,000 this year. It has postponed further reductions until North Korea resolves nuclear weapons issues.

A senior official at North Korea’s Ministry of Atomic Energy, Choe Jung Sung, told reporters this week that international inspection of North Korean nuclear facilities could start any time after the end of May.

The Communist north’s long delay in accepting inspections has led to suspicions in the south that it is trying to buy time to complete development of nuclear weapons. Western intelligence reports have suggested that North Korea could be capable of producing nuclear arms by next year.

The north denies that its nuclear program is aimed at making arms.

“For the maintenance of peace in the Asian region, I believe the presence and role of the U.S. military is invaluable,” Roh said, speaking through a translator in a spacious reception room of the Blue House, South Korea’s presidential mansion.