US Congress agrees on bill restricting drawdown of US troops in South Korea

This June 29, 2018, photo shows the United States Forces Korea's Camp Humphreys headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times file

The United States Congress has agreed on a bill restricting any drawdown of American troops in South Korea from the current level of 28,500, the legislation's final conference report showed Tuesday, marking an increase of 6,500 from the previous bar.

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees agreed Monday on the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which authorizes funding for the Department of Defense.

According to the accompanying conference report, the new bill restricts the use of funds for removing troops from South Korea, an issue that has drawn intense scrutiny amid contentious cost-sharing negotiations between Seoul and Washington.

"None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be used to reduce the total number of members of the Armed Forces serving on active duty who are deployed to South Korea below 28,500" unless the U.S. defense secretary certifies that it is in the U.S. national security interest, the text of the conference report reads.

The defense secretary must also certify that the reduction will not significantly undermine the security of U.S. allies in the region, and that allies including South Korea and Japan have been appropriately consulted.

This year's NDAA restricted any drawdown of troops below 22,000, leading to a news report that the Trump administration is considering pulling out a brigade in the event that South Korea refuses to accept U.S. demands for a fivefold increase in its contribution to shared defense costs to nearly US$5 billion next year.

The Pentagon has dismissed the report as untrue.

Seoul and Washington have been in negotiations to renew their cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement, for next year, but remain far apart on how much of the burden South Korea should shoulder and for what cost categories.

The current SMA, which expires at the end of this year, requires South Korea to pay $870 million for Korean civilians hired by U.S. Forces Korea, the construction of some military facilities and other forms of support.

The NDAA must pass both the House and the Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump before it is enacted into law. (Yonhap)