US Congress Formalizes Maintaining Current Level of US Forces in South Korea This Year

Inclusion of Clause Prohibiting Reduction Below Current Level for Two Consecutive Years in National Defense Authorization Act
Trump's Safety Pin to Limit US Troop Reduction in South Korea

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Congress is pushing to pass the 2021 Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes maintaining the current number of U.S. Forces Korea, following last year’s effort.

The NDAA bills currently under discussion in both the Senate and the House include provisions to maintain the size of U.S. Forces Korea. The NDAA recently passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee contains a clause that prohibits the use of funds necessary to reduce the number of U.S. Forces Korea below the current level of 28,500. The House is also expected to discuss a similar bill.

In the 2019 Fiscal Year NDAA, the U.S. Congress stipulated that the size of U.S. Forces Korea could not be reduced below 22,000, which was less than the then-deployed number of 28,000. However, due to concerns that President Donald Trump might reduce U.S. Forces Korea during the negotiation of the Korea-U.S. defense cost-sharing agreement, the 2020 Fiscal Year bill raised the limit back to 28,500.

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