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Pentagon eyes withdrawing 4,500 troops from Korea, Wall Street Journal reports

Published: 23 May. 2025, 10:39

U.S. soldiers salute the American flag at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi, on July 6, 2023. [YONHAP]

A report from the United States has caused a stir, stating that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is reviewing a plan to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from South Korea and reposition them within the Indo-Pacific region.

While the idea is said to be one of several under discussion among senior U.S. officials, it has drawn attention as it coincides with the growing debate in the United States on expanding the strategic flexibility of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Thursday than an option “being developed by the Pentagon is to pull out roughly 4,500 troops and move them to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region, including to Guam,” citing defense officials. The ideas are being prepared as “part of an informal policy review on dealing with North Korea.”

However, the proposal seemingly has not yet been presented directly to Trump and remains one of several concepts under discussion by high-ranking officials reviewing policy.

A Pentagon spokesman said there were “no policy announcements to make” when asked about the discussion of a troop drawdown, according to WSJ. National Security Council spokesman Pete Nguyen didn’t speak directly about the withdrawal of troops but said “complete denuclearization” of North Korea was still a commitment for Trump.

A Super Hornet fighter jet takes part in the first multidomain exercise of Freedom Edge held by Korea, the United States and Japan in international waters, south of Jeju Island, on June 28, 2024. [YONHAP]

From his first term in office, Trump repeatedly questioned the necessity of stationing the approximately 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, viewing alliances through a cost-based lens. He consistently demanded that the South Korean government pay more for the U.S. military presence and appeared to use troop reduction or withdrawal as a negotiation tactic.

Although partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea was reportedly reviewed during Trump’s first term, it was ultimately not implemented due to opposition from his aides.

The debate is intensifying amid growing calls to expand the strategic flexibility of USFK beyond a defense-focused role against North Korea to address broader regional threats, such as a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander General Xavier Brunson speaks during a change-of-command ceremony for the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command and the United States Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 20, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]

USFK Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson said that the USFK is focused not only on “defeating” North Korea but also on operations, activities and investments “as a small part of the greater Indo-Pacific strategy” during the Army’s Association of the United States' Land Forces Pacific symposium on May 15.

This statement has been interpreted to mean that the U.S. military seeks to broaden USFK's operational scope beyond the Korean Peninsula to address geopolitical threats to the greater Asian region.

Brunson said that “to reduce the forces becomes problematic” during the April 10 Senate Armed Services Committee, a sentiment echoed by Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Paparo said that taking forces out of South Korea “would reduce our ability to prevail in conflict.”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump meets with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 24. [AP/YONHAP]

The WSJ said that “removing forces from the Korean Peninsula but keeping them in the region” is a way to address the concerns of the Pentagon, while also acknowledging that the USFK “has long been seen as a deterrent” against an “aggressive China, which asserts claims over a swath of the South China Sea” and is showing tensions with Taiwan.

The news outlet also said that Guam is becoming a “crucial Pentagon hub” due to its proximity to tactically important locations but also “harder for Chinese forces to reach.”

The potential reduction of USFK is expected to be reviewed alongside the 2025 National Defense Strategy (NDS). Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered Elbridge Colby, under secretary of defense for policy, to draft the 2025 NDS to prioritize raising “burden-sharing” with allies and deterring China's threats in the Indo-Pacific, a Pentagon official said on May 2.

Cho Chang-rae, South Korea's deputy defense minister for policy, left, meets U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby after Korea and the United States held key defense talks in Washington from May 1 to 2. [DEFENSE MINISTRY]

Colby has expressed that he is “not in favor of withdrawing forces from South Korea, as I have repeatedly laid out,” in a post on X last year. This was before he was nominated for his Pentagon post.

“I’m in favor of reshaping U.S. forces in the ROK to focus on China while the ROK takes the great burden of conventional defense against the DPRK,” said Colby, referring to both South and North Korea by their official names, respectively.

Colby, since the U.S. presidential race last year, has indicated that while the United States will continue to provide extended deterrence for South Korea, Seoul should take greater responsibility for conventional defense against North Korean threats.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM HYOUNG-GU [[email protected]]