SEOUL — A report that the Trump administration is considering pulling out thousands of its military personnel stationed in South Korea has sent waves of anxiety rippling through the country, which is facing a snap presidential election next month.
Quoting unnamed defense officials familiar with the discussion, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the plan involves pulling around 4,500 troops and moving them “to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, including to Guam.” The report added that “the proposal has yet to reach Trump’s desk.”
Fears that Washington might pull some or all of the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea have loomed large in the country since Trump’s first term, when the president said that allied countries were not paying enough for the presence of the U.S. military.
And though the withdrawal of U.S. troops was not officially up for negotiation during the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his term, Trump also reportedly ordered the Pentagon to review options for downsizing the U.S. military presence in South Korea in the run-up to his first meeting with Kim in Singapore in 2018.
Though such plans never materialized, following that Singapore meeting, Trump suspended U.S. military exercises with South Korea in a surprising concession to the North Korean leader. “We will be saving a tremendous amount of money. Plus, it is very provocative,” Trump said.
But even with such gestures, the summits ultimately failed to secure the denuclearization deal that many had hoped for.
In a 2022 memoir, Trump’s former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper recalled how the president repeatedly pushed for a “complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea,” only for the idea to be talked down by his aides.
When Mike Pompeo, then secretary of State, intervened during one of these conversations by suggesting the president make it a “second-term priority,” “Trump responded with ‘Yeah, yeah, second term,’ as a Cheshire cat smile came across his face,” Esper wrote.
Since then, a growing number of mainstream politicians and pundits in South Korea have advocated for the development of the country’s own nuclear weapons as a way of lessening its reliance on U.S. protection.
These same concerns have figured prominently in the current South Korean presidential race.
At a meeting hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea on Monday, conservative candidate Kim Moon-soo, referring to Trump’s history of demanding that Seoul pay more for the upkeep of U.S. troops, said that “our main interest is maintaining the U.S. military’s presence in South Korea without any issues. We have worries that there will be a reduction in force size.”
Responding to the latest reports in a post on Facebook on Friday, Kim wrote that “the issue of a drawdown of U.S. forces in South Korea is not just about moving troops around but a serious matter that has direct consequences for the security of South Korea.”
Kim, who is trailing in second place in polls, also attacked liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung for speaking critically about the U.S. military presence in the past.
“There are concerned outlooks that if Lee Jae-myung becomes president, the withdrawal of the U.S. military will become a reality,” Kim wrote.
Speaking to South Korean reporters, Han Min-soo, a spokesperson for Lee’s Democratic Party, cautioned against reading too much into what he called a “speculative report.”
Still, he added, “The Democratic Party will maintain the steadfastness of the U.S.-South Korea alliance. We will make it stronger.”
In a statement to The Times, South Korea’s foreign ministry said that no discussions about any potential drawdown had taken place between Seoul and Washington, calling the U.S military’s presence in the country a symbol and “backbone” of the two countries’ alliance.
“South Korea and the U.S. will continue to maintain and strengthen a strong joint defense posture,” a ministry spokesperson said.
U.S. military officials have largely been guarded against reducing the U.S. troop size in South Korea.
At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last April, U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson described the move as “problematic” while U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo Jr. warned that doing so would increase the likelihood of a North Korean invasion.
“Inherently, it would reduce our ability to prevail in conflict,” he said.
