7 days ago
Seoul should set new bottom line for USFK: expert
Seoul needs to be proactive in setting the new 'baseline' with Washington over the talks involving a possible change in the role of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea stationed here, a Seoul-based military and foreign relations expert said Wednesday.
'South Korean officials and experts' current discussions, in dealing with Washington's talks of strategic flexibility of the USFK, are focused on maintaining the current situation or reacting to the US' moves,' Jo Bee-yun, a research fellow at Sejong Institute said in a report.
'However, Seoul must take a proactive approach (toward the issue) and prevent any radical adjustments to the USFK,' she added.
The report comes amid growing speculation that Washington may reduce and reconfigure the USFK to prioritize deterrence of Chinese threats. A May report by the Wall Street Journal indicated that Washington was reviewing wheter to relocate 4,500 troops from South Korea to other areas in the Indo-Pacific region.
US President Donald Trump has been also putting pressure on Seoul to sharply increase its spending on national defense or pay more fo the cost of stationing the USFK on the peninsula.
He recently took a jab at the latest South Korea-US defense cost-sharing deal, dubbed, the Special Measures Agreement, signed under the previous Joe Biden administration last year, saying falsely that the cost was reduced 'to nothing.' The latest SMA for the 2026-2030 period states that Korea is to pay 1.52 trillion won ($1.11 billion) next year, up from 1.4 trillion won this year.
In this regard, Jo pointed out that the gap between the stance on security priorities between Seoul and Washington are growing wider.
'South Korea prioritizes responding to threats from North Korea due to its geopolitical conditions, but the US is attempting to expand the strategic flexibility of the USFK with the focus on deterring threats from China — this has led to a widened gap between stances on security,' she explained.
To prevent further security risks, Jo claimed Seoul must first admit the possibility of a USFK troop reduction and set a new baseline that could help maintain the strength of the South Korea-US alliance and Washington's commitment to extended deterrence.
Specifically, Seoul would need to propose to Washington about maintaining at least 15,000 troops on the peninsula, as well as the current level of the 'Super Squadron' formation test, an initiative by the US Air Force, to consolidate a larger number of F-16 fighter jets into a single squadron at Osan Air Base. The test is aimed enhancing combat effectiveness.
Seoul should also pursue permanent deployment of an F-35A wing, a radar-evading aircraft, to Kunsan Air Base and request Washington to continue to send four-star generals to lead the USFK, she added.
Advancing and developing conventional-nuclear integration options, under which South Korea mobilizes its conventional military assets to back America's nuclear operations in a crisis scenario, would be another key step, Jo noted.
