in march 1977, carter supported removing american troops from south korea. he wanted south korea to have their own military forces to protect themselves from north korea. carter's move to remove the troops was unpopular with military officials. in may, carter said he believed south korea would be able to defend themselves without as many american troops. from june 30 to july 1, 1979, carter had meetings with president of south korea park chung-hee at the blue house.