Ex-Pentagon official downplays concerns over possible USFK pullout in case of Trump's election

Randall Schriver, the former assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs under the Trump administration, speaks during a press conference on the margins of a forum hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

A former Pentagon official on Tuesday downplayed concerns over a possible withdrawal of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) troops should former U.S. President Donald Trump return to the White House, citing Congress' efforts to protect Washington's alliance with Seoul.

Randall Schriver, who served as the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs under the Trump administration, made the remark after Trump recently suggested Washington could withdraw its troops in Korea, if Seoul does not financially contribute more to support them.

In a TIME magazine interview released late last month, Trump questioned the need for U.S. troops to defend Korea, raising concerns in Seoul over a possible pullout of troops if he wins a second presidential term in the upcoming November election.

"At the end of the Trump administration, there was a move on the part of Congress to really put a floor under the number of U.S. troops, saying the president couldn't go below that without the authorization and consent of Congress," Schriver said in a press conference in Seoul.

"What Congress did ... by legislating that floor proves that there's a very strong constituency in our Congress to protect this alliance."

In 2018, Congress added a lower limit for U.S. troops in Korea in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), when former President Donald Trump began to use the 28,500-strong USFK as a bargaining chip in talks with Korea over Seoul's share of the cost to maintain U.S. forces.

The current NDAA calls for maintaining approximately 28,500 U.S. troops in Korea.

Schriver also noted the allies' recent launch of earlier-than-expected negotiations over Korea's share of the cost for the upkeep of USFK, calling it a "smart" move.

Seoul and Washington held the first round of negotiations over the deal last month although the current one will expire at the end of next year. The move raised speculation that it appears to consider the possibility of Trump getting reelected.

"The notion of locking some things in now I think is smart," he said.

Regarding the possibility of Korea acquiring nuclear weapons amid lingering questions over Washington's security commitment, Schriver said such a scenario would mean a failure in U.S. policy.

"If Korea feels the need to go nuclear, to me that's a failure on the part of the United States to prove that our extended deterrence is meaningful and that those assurances are strong enough," he said.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S. commitment to using the full-range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend an ally.

Schriver said if Korea goes nuclear, the risks of proliferation would be "very real," noting that Japan would likely develop a nuclear weapon, while others would contemplate starting such a program or strengthening nuclear capabilities. (Yonhap)