"The two sides agreed to relocate Yongsan garrison as soon as possible," the statement said.

Two days of talks led by Richard Lawless, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, and South Korea's assistant defense minister for policy, Cha Young-Koo, concluded earlier Wednesday.

No decision was taken during the talks on the contentious US proposal to withdraw US forces from the front lines with communist North Korea, officials said at a press conference.

The United States deploys 37,000 troops in South Korea, nearly 15,000 of them with the 2nd Infantry Division north of Seoul near the border with the Stalinist North.

"Both sides agreed to continue discussions on the timing of the overall alignment, including the 2nd Infantry Decision," the statement added.

SPACE.WIRE