U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said on Tuesday that he had not issued orders to withdraw U.S. troops from the Republic of Korea (ROK), but adding the Pentagon would continue to conduct adjustments at every theater command. 

"I've issued no orders to withdraw forces from the Korean Peninsula," Esper responded to a question on potential U.S. force restructure in ROK at a think tank event.

While he also said that he would look at every geographic combat command to implement U.S. national defense strategy. 

"So we will continue to look at the adjustments at every command we have in every theater to make sure we are optimizing our forces," he added. 

Esper's remark follows a news report that the Pentagon presented the White House with options to reduce troop levels in ROK in March.

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Speculation of a possible drawdown has increased as the U.S. has demanded ROK pay significantly more to keep the 28,500 troops stationed there, Yonhap reported. 

Asked to elaborate on the secretary's remarks, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman again emphasized the ongoing review of the global force posture. 

"I think the secretary's comments on (South) Korea were pretty clear – that's a continuous process, that we're going to do that, we'll do that in conjunction with our allies, and we'll have recommendations that we may make in the future," he told reporters at a press briefing, noting that Esper had recommended a troop drawdown in Germany last month. 

Esper and his ROK counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, spoke by phone Monday but did not discuss U.S. troop levels, according to ROK's defense ministry. 

"South Korea (ROK) and the U.S. have a firm shared understanding on the role and importance of U.S. Forces Korea for the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asia region," Deputy Ministry spokesman Col. Moon Hong-sik told reporters after the call. 

Hoffman echoed that sentiment, saying the U.S. military's commitment to ROK remains unchanged. 

U.S. media reported recently that the Pentagon had given the White House options for the possible reduction of the U.S. troop presence in ROK, amid a battle with Seoul in which Washington is demanding significantly more cash to keep U.S. forces.

Trump has caused much anxiety in Washington by threatening allies that he would remove U.S. troops from various strategic areas. Last month the administration announced it would pull thousands of troops from Germany, claiming that Berlin is not paying their fair share of NATO costs.

(With input from agencies)