Pentagon silent on USFK drawdown as Trump reviews Germany troops

A Pentagon official declined Wednesday to say whether the United States is considering reducing its 28,500-strong force in South Korea, reaffirming the alliance commitment while refusing to rule out troop posture changes.

The carefully worded non-denial comes after President Donald Trump announced the United States is weighing troop cuts in Germany, reigniting fears of a broader reassessment of American military commitments to treaty allies in East Asia.

The Pentagon official, responding to questions from South Korea's Yonhap News Agency via email, stated: "The Department does not comment on potential force posture adjustments. U.S. forces in Korea remain focused on deterrence and readiness." In a separate statement to Yonhap, the official added: "Our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea is unwavering, and the Alliance continues to underpin stability on the [Korean] Peninsula," according to the Korea Times.

The remarks came hours after Trump posted on social media that his administration is "studying and reviewing" a possible drawdown of troops stationed in Germany. That announcement followed a Wall Street Journal report that the administration was weighing punitive measures against NATO members perceived as unhelpful during the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

South Korea hosts roughly 28,500 American service members under a bilateral defense treaty. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials were considering withdrawing approximately 4,500 of those troops and redeploying them to other Indo-Pacific locations, including Guam. The Pentagon at the time dismissed the report as "not true."

Analysts have noted that the U.S. and South Korea are currently engaged in alliance modernization talks, a process that could involve structural changes to how American forces are configured on the peninsula. Pentagon officials have declined to elaborate on what any such modernization would entail.

The Pentagon's refusal to flatly deny any drawdown consideration leaves unresolved questions about the long-term size of the American military presence in South Korea, even as officials maintain the alliance remains strong.