Hanmi: "US Forces Korea Play Important Role"... Denies Reduction Rumors

Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense who embarked on his first overseas trip since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration, arrived on the afternoon of the 17th through Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province and is seen moving while conversing with Robert Abrams, the Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command and Commander of United States Forces Korea.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will begin the ROK-US defense ministerial meeting that afternoon and continue a one-night, two-day schedule with Secretary of State Tony Blinken until the 18th.
Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The South Korea-U.S. foreign and defense ministers stated that "the U.S. Forces Korea continues to play an important role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region," which is being interpreted as a dismissal of rumors about the reduction of U.S. Forces Korea.

The South Korea-U.S. foreign and defense ministers, through a joint statement resulting from the South Korea-U.S. foreign and defense ministers (2+2) meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul from around 9:30 a.m. on the 18th for about 90 minutes, voiced in unison that "South Korea and the U.S. will continue efforts to secure the necessary force posture and capabilities to address common challenges."

Inside and outside the military, there is an assessment that the defense cost-sharing issue was swiftly resolved under the Biden administration, serving as a catalyst for strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance. With the resolution of the defense cost-sharing, concerns about the reduction of U.S. Forces Korea have also disappeared. When former President Trump expressed dissatisfaction with Germany's defense spending and announced measures to reduce U.S. forces in Germany, concerns about the reduction of U.S. Forces Korea were widespread.

For now, it is understood that some of these concerns have been alleviated by the conclusion of the defense cost-sharing negotiations. The issue lies with the SCM joint statement. Regarding this, a military official said on the 10th, "It is an area that requires steady negotiations and dialogue between South Korea and the U.S."

The omission of the phrase "maintaining the current level of U.S. Forces Korea" in the SCM joint statement is due to the U.S. concept of Dynamic Force Employment (DFE). The DFE concept is an evolution of the "Global Defense Posture Review" (GDPR) concept introduced by the Bush administration in 2004. GDPR involves withdrawing forward-deployed forces in Europe and other regions back to the U.S. mainland, rotating forces stationed in the U.S., and operating globally with strategic flexibility. During this adjustment process, there is a possibility that the number of troops in certain commands may decrease or increase. The possibility of changes in the size of U.S. Forces Korea reflects concerns about where the fallout from this adjustment process might land.

Meanwhile, there is interest in whether this issue will be discussed again at the SCM to be held in Seoul this October. Since it will be the first SCM after President Biden's inauguration, there is a possibility of readjusting the phrase "maintaining the current level of U.S. Forces Korea," which was removed during former President Trump's administration.

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