Esper says he has issued no orders to withdraw forces from S. Korea

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper / AP-Yonhap

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday he has issued no orders to withdraw troops from South Korea but continues to look at adjustments to deployments worldwide.

Esper's remark follows a news report that the Pentagon presented the White House with options to reduce troop levels in South Korea in March.

Speculation of a possible drawdown has increased as the U.S. has demanded South Korea pay significantly more to keep the 28,500 troops stationed there.

"I've issued no orders to withdraw forces from the Korean Peninsula," Esper said during a virtual event hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"We will continue to look at adjustments at every command we have in every theater to make sure we are optimizing our forces," he added, saying he wants to continue to pursue more rotational force deployments that would give the U.S. "greater strategic flexibility" in responding to global challenges.

Esper and his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeong-doo, spoke by phone Monday but did not discuss U.S. troop levels, according to South Korea's defense ministry.

"South Korea and the U.S. have a firm shared understanding on the role and importance of U.S. Forces Korea for the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asia region," deputy ministry spokesman Col. Moon Hong-sik told reporters after the call.

The possibility of a drawdown resurfaced after U.S. President Donald Trump announced in June that he would be partially withdrawing troops from Germany.

Trump has also made clear that he wants Seoul to pay more for the troop presence, leading to a deadlock in negotiations for a new cost-sharing agreement. The previous arrangement, under which South Korea agreed to pay US$870 million in 2019, lapsed at the end of December.

Several lawmakers in both the Republican and Democratic parties have voiced opposition to a pullout, noting that the American troops in South Korea serve U.S. national interests by deterring North Korean and Chinese threats to the U.S.

Esper said in his remarks that the U.S. continues to work with South Korea to achieve the "final, fully verified denuclearization" of North Korea and enduring peace on the peninsula.

He also accused China of turning a blind eye to North Korea's violations of United Nations sanctions imposed on the regime over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. (Yonhap)