"With the Drawdown of U.S. Forces in Germany, Is South" Topic

…Korea Next?

"With the drawdown of U.S. forces in Germany underway, a reduction of U.S. forces in South Korea is now more likely than ever, given evolving U.S. defense priorities and longstanding trends on the Korean Peninsula. Rumors of an imminent U.S. force drawdown in Korea have been circulating since at least 2019, and President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants to reduce large overseas basing. South Korea, however, is a particularly contentious case, as any changes to the size and structure of U.S. forces must take into consideration both the local mission of deterring against North Korea, as well as the broader U.S. strategic mission of refocusing on great power competition, particularly with China. And that will require reassessing South Korea's own national defense capabilities, the benefits and risks of having a large forward force based on the Asian mainland, and the impact of any shift in forces on the overall perception of U.S. commitment and reliability with other allies and partners in the region.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has sought to reduce its large-scale overseas basing, both to reduce financial and political costs and create a more flexible and responsive force structure better adapted to the changing threat dynamic. Cost-sharing agreements are often contentious, and the current stalemate between the United States and South Korea has dragged on with no end in sight. U.S. basing is also often a source of protest inside South Korea, over land use, accidents or illegal behavior by U.S. personnel, and the perception of continued occupation. Reducing the U.S. footprint and shifting more to naval, air and rotational units could ease these tensions…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Move them to Taiwan. That will get everyone irritated. :)

It is about time; bring our troops home!

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Nah, Taiwan is so predictable, though I do like the idea, so don't want to dismiss it out of hand.

Belarus would be far more satisfying to give Vladimir severe heartburn. Throw in NATO membership too, in order to give him apoplexy.

I know, pull even more troops out of Germany, and send half to each, while declaring unilateral, and firm military aid/defense treaties.

Never going to happen of course, but it is fun to think about, and should make for some interesting "what-if" scenarios.

Now, if we could only do that to Iran as well, to rope in the third "axis of evil"……….

I am not entirely in the know about South Korea and their foreign policy.

I know they are probably more antagonistic towards Japan than China because of Japanese colonisation as well as as disputed islands. Relationships with Japan had been in free fall for a while.

They fear Chinese economic retribution which caused them to cancel acquisition of THAAD air defence system.

Their goal is to develop a blue water navy (whose main purpose will probably be to duke it out with Japanese over those islands).

And they have been hedging their events by developing systems in conjunction with Russia eg S350 air defence system with Korean version being called KM-SAM.

So maybe the US has figured out these guys aren't exactly playing in the US ballpark?