South Korea said there have been no discussions with the U.S. over a possible pullback of American troops stationed in the country, after a

South Korea hosts the third-largest number of American troops outside the U.S.—after Japan and Germany—stationed there to help defend Seoul against threats from nuclear-armed North Korea and support regional efforts to counter an increasingly assertive China.

South Korea's defence ministry said on Friday that Seoul and Washington had not had discussions about the withdrawal of some U.S. troops stationed in the country. The ministry made the comment in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal that said the U.