Its about time Japan pickled up the ball. WWII is over and they need to change their Constitution to allow greater spending and less “defense” and more “offense”.
I think his intention (probably after he returns to the WH), is to task the Pentagon to refigure it’s worldwide footprint (not just South Korea).
What I’ll predict is that you see 25-percent of the US forces in SK gone by the fall of 2019. Some might end up in Alaska or Guam, and the rest probably start to be put to tasks along the US border (posts/bases in NM, Az, Texas, Cal). I think the bulk of the 35,000 troops there will be gone within four years.
I’ll also go out on the limb and predict that the bulk of US troops in Germany....are probably gone within three years. Some might end up in Poland, and the rest brought back to the states as well.
When the eight years end of the Trump era....we can all say that it’s a dramatic change to the landscape, lesser tensions existing, and less cost to operate the Pentagon. I also think there is an economic boom coming to South Korea, and they will be a dominating economic force over the next decade.
I'm no military expert, so I'll ask what seams like a logical question. With today's technologically advanced militaries, compared to the 1950's and 60's when these troops were stationed in South Korea, are the 35-40k US troops essentially a condensed sitting duck target if things were to break bad over there?
LOL! No. Both countries kicked us out, neither one wants us back. If we pull out of Korea then the only place for them is in the U.S.
...we need to re-assure our regional allies we are not letting them twist in the wind.
Or maybe we are? The President has been quite clear on his belief that Europe and South Korea and Japan need to defend themselves. He was quite vocal on the cost of the joint military exercises; I don't doubt he's more concerned with the overall costs. I think we'll see troops out of Korea, and possibly out of Japan as well.
With relations on a track to increased normality, why not look at a base in NK? Treat ‘em like the allies we’d like them to ultimately really be & involve them in exercises right along with SK and Japan?
Trump has got this far treating Kim as if he really wants to bring NK into the fold of free civilization with burgeoning trade, and economic growth — it would be an oddity to omit the military aspect of that. Not that we should share tech, but have joint exercises. I’ve opined elsewhere, and I’l repeat it here: Trump’s talking to NK like they WANT to be more like allies, and less like enemies, and that treatment is fostering a response that more resembles the response of an ally than an enemy.
You reap what you sow. Imagine that as foreign policy.