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| US President Joe Biden is leaving after taking office on the 4th (local time) after giving a speech on foreign policy at the Washington State Department, his first visiting ministry. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
As US President Joe Biden decided to reexamine the posture of US troops around the world, including the former Donald Trump administration’s plan to relocate US troops in Germany, it is noteworthy whether it will be possible to resolve the idea of reducing US forces in Korea.
According to foreign media such as Reuters and AFP on the 4th (local time), President Biden made a speech on the direction of foreign policy, reexamined the posture of US troops around the world and announced that he would stop relocating US troops stationed in Germany during this period.
President Biden’s remarks suggest that the plan to reduce US troops in Germany could be changed, meaning that it would withhold former President Trump’s plan to reduce the size of US troops in Germany, which has been the cornerstone of the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) since the beginning of the Cold War. do.
Earlier, in June of last year, during the Trump administration, the United States announced that it would reduce the size of US troops in Germany. Subsequently, in July, the US Department of Defense announced that it would cut 11,900 out of 34,500 US troops stationed in Germany.
President Biden’s review of the redeployment of US troops stationed abroad seems to have revealed his willingness to deal with the issue of US military presence from the perspective of global military strategy and value alliances, rather than’US priority’ like former President Trump.
As a result, it is expected that the problem of US military reductions in Korea, which had been rumored to be reduced at the time of the Trump administration, can also be found.
Former President Trump’s background to reduce US military presence around the world was a matter of’money’. During his tenure, former President Trump emphasized US priority and insisted that the US alliance would share more responsibilities by reducing US troops stationed abroad.
In fact, former President Trump has accused Germany, Europe’s largest economy, for free rides on US security capabilities without paying NATO contributions.
The same goes for Korea. Prior to a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in London in December 2019, Trump asked reporters whether it would be in the interests of US national security to keep US troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula. I can go either way.”
Under this stance, the ROK-US defense share agreement was at a standstill under pressure from the former Trump administration’s massive increase. The Trump administration has been demanding a fivefold increase in its contribution from South Korea. The Moon Jae-in administration finally proposed a 10% line, but President Trump rejected it.
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| At the 42nd anniversary of the founding of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command held at the Collier Field Gymnasium at the Yongsan US base in Seoul on the 6th, Commander Robert Abrams responds to the tribute of Deputy Commander Kim Seung-gyeom, who finished a commemorative address. 2020.11.6/News1 © News1 Photo Group |
As the idea of reducing US troops stationed in Germany and South Korea has been raised in a similar context, President Biden’s stance that the reduction of US troops stationed in Germany may be stopped may apply to US forces in Korea.
President Biden wrote to a media outlet in Korea during his presidential election, saying, “Rather than extortion of Korea with reckless threats to withdraw our troops (USFK), we strengthen our alliance to protect peace in East Asia and beyond. I will stand together.”
President Biden’s policy direction was revealed at a hearing confirmed by US Defense Secretary Austin.
At that time, Secretary Austin said, “If approved, we will focus on modernizing the alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. As part of that effort, we will seek an early settlement of the defense cost sharing negotiations with Korea.”
However, it will take some time until the problem of the reduction of US forces in Korea is completely resolved.
This is because President Biden put a clue on the relocation of US troops to Germany until “reviewing the posture of US troops around the world. This means that the possibility of relocating the current 28,500 US troops in Korea according to the stance of strengthening strategic flexibility cannot be ruled out.
In fact, there is a possibility that the size of the current USFK will be partially adjusted at any time, such as the phrase’maintaining the current level of the USFK’ in the joint statement of the Korea-US Security Council (SCM) last year.