Trump may use troop reduction as bargaining chip
By Lee Min-hyung
U.S. President Donald Trump
Concerns are rising that U.S. President Donald Trump may use reducing the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as a bargaining chip for a denuclearization deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Since taking office early last year, Trump has called for the need to scale down the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), as he believes Washington is not properly compensated for maintaining the troops here.
Trump has, for this reason, urged South Korea to take a bigger share in paying maintenance costs for the USFK during the ongoing negotiation to renew the five-year defense-cost-sharing for the American troops here. Under his “America First” policy, he said Seoul should take on more of the burden when renewing the agreement which expires at the end of this year.
“Less publicly, but still privately, Trump continues to say he does not agree with the argument that U.S. troops in South Korea are strategically necessary, and he thinks the U.S. gets nothing back from paying to keep them there,” Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin said in a recent column, citing administration officials and those who have had conversations with Trump regarding the issue.
“He (Trump) often asks his generals to explain the rationale for America's deployments in Asia and expresses dissatisfaction with their answers.”
The White House and Pentagon denied the possibility for Trump to bring the agenda of downsizing U.S. troops to the dialogue table on Tuesday morning when the historic Washington-Pyongyang summit takes place in Singapore.
Last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis dispelled reports over the possible reduction or withdrawal of the USFK.
“We are not going anywhere,” he told reporters last week on his way back to Washington after attending the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore. “It is not even a subject of the discussions.”
But when taking into account Trump's outward discontent over the current cost-sharing deal for the USFK, there still remains ample room for him to discuss the issue with the North's young leader and pressure South Korea to pay more when renewing the cost-sharing deal.
Even if the agenda is not put on the table during the summit, there stands enough chance that Trump will play the bargaining chip sometime later with Kim Jong-un even after the scheduled meeting on Tuesday.
As of now, the potential withdrawal or reduction of the USFK is expected to pose a security threat to South Korea, as the two Koreas are still technically at war with no peace treaty.
But given the ongoing rare peace gestures from the North, some critics say Trump and Kim can declare an end to the Korean War during the upcoming summit.
Experts argue the scenario, if realized, can also give the justification for the U.S. to remove or downsize roughly 28,500 U.S. troops here.
Starting in March, Seoul and Washington began engaging in USFK cost-sharing talks. They have since held a third round of negotiations, but failed to narrow their differences.
Under the current five-year pact, Seoul pays 960.2 billion won ($900 million) for this year's cost-sharing with Washington. But the U.S. is likely to step up pressure for the South to pay much more than 1 trillion won each year when renewing the pact which takes effect next year.