US may move 4,500 troops from South Korea: WSJ reports
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The US Department of Defense is reviewing a plan to withdraw around 4,500 troops from South Korea and redeploy them across the Indo-Pacific region, amid a broader policy reassessment on the DPRK.
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US troops cross a floating bridge on the Imjin River during a joint river-crossing exercise between S. Korea and the US as a part of the Freedom Shield military exercise in Yeoncheon, S. Korea, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP)
The United States is considering withdrawing thousands of its troops from South Korea, according to defense officials familiar with the discussions, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The Department of Defense is developing a plan to pull out approximately 4,500 US troops stationed in South Korea and redeploy them elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, with potential relocation sites including Guam, according to defense officials and a source familiar with the matter.
The proposed troop withdrawal is part of an informal policy review examining Washington's stance toward the DPRK, and two officials confirmed to the newspaper that preparations are underway to present the plan for consideration by US President Donald Trump.
The wider context
On May 19, South Korean conservative presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo expressed openness to negotiations on raising his country's financial contribution for the US military presence, a move that would address US President Donald Trump's repeated calls for greater burden-sharing.
South Korea and the United States signed a five-year cost-sharing agreement in October. Under the deal, South Korea's contribution rose by 8.3% to 1.52 trillion won (approximately $1.09 billion) to support the US military presence on its soil.
Currently, about 28,500 American troops are stationed in the country as part of a longstanding arrangement to deter the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), while South Korea started covering portions of these costs in the early 1990s, including labor, infrastructure, and logistical support.
On April 6, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing unnamed sources, that the US and South Korea reached an agreement to deploy the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defense system from South Korea to the Middle East for a period spanning several months, marking the first documented case of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) transferring military assets to the region.
Earlier, NBC News reported that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had authorized the transfer of at least two Patriot batteries and one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from Asia to the Middle East.
The relocation comes with a backdrop of tensions in the region, as both South Korea and the US have recognized an escalation in security threats posed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), with the Patriot systems in South Korea serving as a critical component of a multilayered missile defense network designed to counter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats.
