"US Official: No Plans to Reduce USFK Troops"

Kajianis National Interest Research Institute Korea Director's Op-Ed Cites White House and Department of Defense Officials

General Robert Abrams, Commander of the United States Forces Korea and Commander of the United Nations Command, delivered a greeting at the ceremony commemorating the United Nations Forces Participation Day in the Korean War, held on the 27th of last month at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul. The event, attended by Korean War veterans and key government officials, was held under the theme "Days of Glory." [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Senior officials from the White House and the Department of Defense in the United States have stated that the U.S. government does not currently have plans to reduce the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, according to a U.S. security expert.

Harry Kazianis, Director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest, reported this on the 10th (local time) in an article titled "Trump Wants to Bring Troops Home, But Not Yet from Korea," published in The American Conservative magazine.

He stated, "Despite last month's WSJ report that the Department of Defense presented options to the White House to reduce U.S. troops in South Korea, according to senior White House officials and another senior Department of Defense official, there are no immediate plans to do so."

He also conveyed that more than two senior South Korean government officials he spoke with suspect that the U.S. mention of withdrawing troops from South Korea may have been intentionally raised as a pressure tactic to break the deadlock in the defense cost-sharing negotiations.