WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2020) The Pentagon delivered recommendations to the White House on future US military deployments in South Korea that would reduce troop strength below the current 28,500 deployment, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing unnamed US officials.
The Defense Department's Joint Staff reviewed the structure of American forces in South Korea as part of a broader examination of how to trim military deployments worldwide and in light of a dispute between Seoul and Washington on how much the US ally should contribute, the Journal said.
Trump administration officials declined to spell out contingency plans to shrink the American military in South Korea below the current level of 28,500 U.S. troops and said no decision to reduce the force has been made, the article said.
The US and South Korea have been military allies since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Yielding to administration pressure, Seoul agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in 2019, an increase of more than 8 percent for one year in what the Journal characterized as a stopgap deal.
A subsequent US demand for a five-fold increase in the South Korean contribution led to the current impasse between the two allies, he Journal said.
The Pentagon recommendations coincide with a call by President Donald Trump to pull 9,500 US forces from Germany, of 34,00O now deployed, with other allies including Poland and Lativia having recently offered to permanently host American forces, according to media reports.
