Persistent Rumors of USFK Reduction

Appearance of US Forces Korea (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] On the 21st (local time), U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper addressed rumors about the reduction of U.S. forces in South Korea, stating, "I have never given an order to withdraw troops from the Korean Peninsula," while also announcing plans to review adjustments to U.S. troop deployments worldwide. Although Esper's remarks seemed to dismiss the reduction rumors at first glance, the emphasis on troop redeployment suggests that debates over the reduction of U.S. forces in South Korea are likely to continue.

During a virtual seminar hosted by the UK think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Secretary Esper said, "When I took office, I made it clear that I would implement the National Defense Strategy (NDS). The core of that is to review all geographic combatant commands and not only execute the NDS but also ensure that we are optimized and deployed to carry out our regional missions." He added, "We will continue to review adjustments at all commands to confirm whether we are optimizing our forces in every theater," emphasizing plans to review U.S. troop deployments and stationing worldwide.

Esper's remarks left open the possibility that, although no order to reduce U.S. forces in South Korea has been issued yet, it could happen in the future. This implies that the controversy over the reduction of U.S. forces in South Korea will persist. Additionally, with the stalemate in South Korea-U.S. defense cost-sharing negotiations and the U.S. presidential election looming, it cannot be ruled out that President Donald Trump might actually implement such measures.

Despite growing opposition within the U.S. political and military circles against reducing U.S. forces in South Korea, it could be used as a comeback card by President Trump, who is struggling with declining approval ratings. Reflecting this atmosphere, the Associated Press reported that Secretary Esper revealed the Department of Defense is reviewing adjustments to U.S. forces stationed in South Korea and worldwide, explicitly including South Korea in the scope.

The U.S. Department of Defense also joined the discussion. In response to questions about the reduction rumors, the Department reaffirmed its position on reviewing global force posture, stating that such reviews will be conducted in cooperation with allies. However, it did not provide specific answers regarding whether these reviews would lead to reductions or if the reduction issue would be linked to South Korea-U.S. defense cost-sharing negotiations. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 17th that the Department of Defense had proposed a plan to reduce U.S. forces in South Korea to the White House in March. On the same day, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley mentioned rotational deployments of U.S. forces overseas, including South Korea, stating, "We need to rotate forces very frequently."

Shin Jong-woo, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Defense & Security Forum, said, "The U.S. military may consider emergency rotational deployments of U.S. forces in South Korea, but since ground forces require a long deployment time, it is difficult to realize. However, the U.S. military's new rotational deployment concept could be used as a pressure card linked to increases in defense costs."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.