South Korean officials appear somewhat taken aback by the remark by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. is prepared to reduce its military presence in Asia if North Korea rejoins nuclear talks and follows through on its denuclearization commitment.

Kerry made the comment in Berlin on Wednesday during a joint news conference with his German counterpart, expressing hope for resuming the long-stalled six-party negotiations “in the next weeks, months perhaps.”

If North Korea begins the process of denuclearization, Kerry said, “We are prepared to begin the process of reducing the need for American force and presence in the region because the threat itself would then be reduced.”

Seoul officials were quick to caution against going too far in interpreting the top U.S. diplomat’s statement. They noted Kerry mentioned a possibility in the distant future, not a plan under consideration. It may fit this context that South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs on Thursday agreed to delay the planned transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul.

As they indicated, Kerry’s remark might have to be seen as putting emphasis on the North’s denuclearization rather than on cutting U.S. troops in the South. In Washington, a State Department spokesperson also downplayed the implication of Kerry’s statement, saying he was restating a long-standing U.S. policy focused on the denuclearization of the peninsula.

Still, South Korean officials seem perplexed by his unexpected remark, which came as the two Koreas gauge each other’s stance in the lead-up to the resumption of high-level talks later this year.

An official here summed up the sentiment in Seoul by saying Kerry’s remark, which followed the North’s release of one of three Americans detained there, “went somewhat too far.” During Wednesday’s news conference, Kerry said Washington has made no concession to Pyongyang to win the release of the U.S. citizen.

It may still need to be noted that his remark on the possible reduction of U.S. troops in the region came as he mentioned cooperation with China in solving the nuclear standoff with the North.

Seoul officials have stressed Washington has no plan to scale down its current military presence here and thus the two sides have held no discussions on the matter. Still, Kerry’s remark may have to be viewed as raising the need for them to be better prepared for a possible discussion on changing the structure of U.S. forces in the region over the long term in a new framework of ties between the two superpowers.