Congress Pumps Brakes on Any Plans to Pull US Troops Out of South Korea

As tensions rise again on the Korean peninsula, Congress has moved to put the brakes on any proposals by the White House or the Pentagon to reduce the number of U.S. troops in South Korea.

Provisions in the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law earlier this month by President Donald Trump, bar use of the $738 billion defense budget for troop reductions in South Korea -- unless the Defense Department does a lot of explaining first.

"None of the funds authorized" in the bill can be used to draw down the troop level below 28,500, unless the DoD certifies to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees that the pullout is in the national security interests of the U.S., according to a section of the law.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper also must certify that he has "appropriately consulted with allies of the United States, including South Korea and Japan, regarding such a reduction," the legislation states.

The new legislative requirement takes on additional significance as Trump argues with South Korea over compensation for the U.S. troop presence and North Korea threatens a "Christmas gift" to the U.S. as leverage in an effort to get sanctions lifted.

Related: False Alarms Near Japan, South Korea Bases Amid Threats from North Korea

Last month, the U.S. broke off negotiations with South Korea over cost-sharing for its troop presence as part of the mutual defense alliance.

South Korean officials charge that the U.S. is seeking a five-fold increase in Seoul's contribution, to about $5 billion a year. Trump has repeatedly described South Korea as a "wealthy nation" that should pay more, triggering concerns in South Korea that a U.S. troop withdrawal is under consideration.

The importance of the defense alliance was underlined this month as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un balked again at promises of denuclearization and set a Dec. 31 deadline for the easing of sanctions.

Earlier this month, Ri Thae Song, North Korea's vice foreign minister in charge of U.S. affairs, charged that the exchange of talks with the U.S. on disarmament in return for sanctions relief was a "foolish trick."

He told the North's Korean Central News Agency propaganda outlet, "What is left to be done now is the U.S. option, and it is entirely up to the U.S. what Christmas gift it will select to get."

The concern is that the North might be readying another underground nuclear test or the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, capable of hitting the United States.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.

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