The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday that the United States has given assurances to Seoul that there would be no new changes in American plans for U.S. forces in South Korea, as Washington continues an overall review of its global military deployments.

Presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young said that U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice called her South Korean counterpart Ra Jong-yil on Tuesday to explain that the Pentagon's realignment plans for its overseas troops will not affect the ongoing consultations on the matter between Seoul and Washington.

About 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea, a remnant of the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul and Washington have been engaged in talks called the "Future of the Alliance Policy Initiative" to map out a reconfiguration of U.S. forces here.

Agreements made so far between the two allies envision eventually moving a U.S. infantry division to further south of the heavily fortified border with North Korea, and pulling American troops out of Seoul to concentrate them in major hubs elsewhere in the South.