The US is considering a significant reduction of its troop numbers in South Korea if Seoul does not contribute more to the cost of their deployment, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported yesterday.
Washington earlier this week broke off defense cost talks with South Korea after demanding that Seoul raise its annual contribution to US$5 billion, more than five times what it pays now, in a rare public display of discord in the alliance.
Neither side has publicly confirmed the numbers, but US President Donald Trump has said that the US military presence in and around South Korea was “US$5 billion worth of protection.”
“I understand that the US is preparing to withdraw one brigade in case negotiations with South Korea do not go as well as President Trump wants,” the newspaper cited a diplomatic source in Washington with knowledge of the negotiations as saying.
A typical US military brigade numbers about 3,000 to 4,000 troops. There are about 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea, which remains technically in a state of war with the North following the 1950-1953 Korean War.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that he was not aware of any plans to withdraw 4,000 US troops from South Korea if cost-sharing talks failed.
“We’re not threatening allies over this. This is a negotiation,” he told reporters during a trip to Vietnam.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense said that the newspaper report was “not the official position of the US government.”
Under US law, the US’ troop presence in South Korea must not fall below 22,000 unless the secretary of defense justifies a further reduction to the US Congress.
The potential reduction of a brigade from US troops stationed in the South had already been discussed with the top brass of US forces in South Korea, the newspaper said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun on Wednesday said that he believed the US should continue to station troops in the South, when asked if he would continue to advocate for the presence of US military personnel in the country if he is confirmed as deputy secretary of state.
“South Korea is among our most important alliance partners. That doesn’t mean anybody gets a free ride,” Biegun said. “We have a tough burden-sharing negotiation that we’re in the middle of with the South Koreans.”
South Korean political party leaders on Wednesday visited Washington to press for a fair and reasonable outcome of the cost-sharing talks.
“I stressed that a withdrawal of US troops from South Korea should not be brought up, as the South Korea-US alliance also helps the US national interest,” said South Korean lawmaker Na Kyung-won of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, which Seoul decided to terminate after relations soured over historical issues and has become the subject of increasing US pressure to renew, is to expire tomorrow.
The South Korean National Security Office was to meet yesterday, when the agreement is expected to be discussed, local media said.
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