Esper says he hasn’t ordered US troops pulled from South Korea

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that he has not given orders to pull U.S. troops from South Korea, but did not rule out such a decision in the future.

“I’ve issued no orders to withdraw forces from the Korean Peninsula,” Esper said during a webinar hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“I will say, though, when I took office, I was clear that I was going to implement the National Defense Strategy. Part and parcel of that means looking at every geographic combatant command and making sure that we are optimized and positioned as well as possible,” he added.

Esper said the Pentagon will look at making adjustments “at every command we have in every theater, to make sure we are optimizing our forces.”

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Defense Department had given the White House options to reduce the U.S. troop presence in South Korea below the current level of 28,500 U.S. personnel on the peninsula.

President Trump has for years demanded Seoul pay significantly more to keep U.S. forces in the country.

Trump last month announced that he plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, framing the drawdown as a response to what he incorrectly claims is Berlin owing billions to NATO.

Washington and Seoul are in the midst of a negotiating a solid cost-sharing agreement after the last one expired Dec. 31. The deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement, lapsed amid the Trump administration’s insistence that South Korea to pay significantly more to keep U.S. troops there.

The U.S. has based service members in South Korea since the Korean War. The two countries in 1991 signed the first of several continuing deals for Seoul to provide funding and support to offset U.S. costs.

The United States and South Korea in June reached a temporary deal that lasts through the end of the year, but Trump has insisted Seoul give about $5 billion a year, or about 400 percent more than what it paid in the now-expired agreement. A new deal has yet to be reached.