Pentagon offers White House options to reduce troops in South Korea: report
U.S. army soldiers take part in a U.S.-South Korea joint river-crossing exercise near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Yeoncheon, South Korea, April 8, 2016. Reuters
The Pentagon has offered the White House options to reduce American troop levels in South Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the paper said the options were presented in March following a broader review of options for withdrawing troops from around the world, including in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia.
The White House requested the review last fall, and by December, the Pentagon had come up with broad ideas, it said.
No decision has yet been made to reduce the number of U.S. forces stationed in South Korea from the current 28,500, according to the WSJ.
A U.S. military official declined to tell the paper whether Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has informed his South Korean counterpart about the review of troop levels.
The paper noted that the disclosure came as U.S. President Donald Trump recently decided to partially withdraw troops from Germany.
Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington have struggled to conclude a new agreement determining how much South Korea will contribute to the cost of stationing American troops there.
Under the previous Special Measures Agreement, which lapsed at the end of December, South Korea agreed to pay US$870 million for 2019.
Trump initially demanded $5 billion for this year on the grounds that South Korea is a wealthy country that should pay more for its defense.
The U.S. is currently known to be requesting $1.3 billion after Trump rejected Seoul's offer to increase its payment by 13 percent from last year.
Observers say there is little incentive on either side to quickly reach a deal after the U.S. in June accepted South Korea's proposal to pay the salaries of thousands of Koreans who had been furloughed from their jobs on U.S. bases. (Yonhap)