A senior U.S. defense official will visit Seoul this month to discuss Washington's plan to cut its troop presence on the Korean Peninsula.

A Defense Ministry official, requesting anonymity, said Tuesday that U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Asia-Pacific Affairs Richard Lawless will arrive in South Korea on September 15 after attending conferences in China and Japan.

During his visit, Lawless is set to meet with top military officials and discuss the U.S. plan to slash one-third of its 37,000 troops in South Korea by December next year.

During the most recent round of the Future of the Alliance talks held in Seoul last month, Seoul and Washington failed to reach a final agreement on the issue. Washington wants the reduction to be completed by the end of 2005 while Seoul is requesting a postponement of the withdrawal by at least one year after that date to avoid a possible security vacuum in the region.