Experts no longer rule out the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump scaling back the American military presence on the Korean peninsula.Trump questioned the advantage of keeping U.S. troops in South Korea as the two allies are deep in their disagreements over the cost-sharing deal for American military presence.While speaking to reporters in London where he was attending a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit on Tuesday, Trump said continuing the U.S. military presence in its current state is Rear Adm. Jeffrey Anderson, deputy director for political-military affairs for Asia on the Joint Chief of Staff, said he is not aware of any discussions on troop reduction.”I know of no discussions within the Pentagon that talks about any type of drawdown in, reduction of force or anything like that,” Anderson said Wednesday. “That said, we’re always assessing the effectiveness of our organizational structure.”O’Hanlon gave credence to Trump’s comments because he thinks troop reduction could be “harmful” but “not be disastrous.” He said downsizing would require pulling out a large number of aircraft and reducing logistical capabilities in addition to cutting ground units. Combined, the moves would “make it hard to reinforce in the time of war.” However, he said the reduction “would probably not lead to complete deterrence failure.”Christopher Hill, a chief U.S. negotiator in nuclear talks with North Korea during the George W. Bush administration, is wary that Trump’s remarks, whether as a negotiation tactic or serious consideration, will bolster North Korea’s escalating threats against the U.S. aimed at ending what Pyongyang sees as its “hostile policy.””It’s emboldening to the North Koreans,” said Hill. “What they would like to see from the U.S. side is a reduction of U.S. troops. I think that is increasingly part of their definition of ending ‘hostile policy,’ which also includes, of course, U.N. sanctions [relief]. So I think this is playing into North Korean hands.”LE – Amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps fire smoke bombs as they move to land on the shore as part of the U.S.-South Korea annual joint military training called Foal Eagle, in Pohang, South Korea, April 2, 2017.As denuclearization talks remain stalled, North Korea recently increased repetitions of its ultimatum that the U.S. has until the end of this year to end its “The reaction of former officials, current officials, military officials, and national security experts in the United States would be even more powerful if the president were to try to unilaterally withdraw U.S. troops in the Korean peninsula and reduce or end our military presence there,” Revere said. After mounting criticism, Trump reversed his course in October and had U.S. troops remain in Syria to guard oil fields. The U.S. troops were in Syria to fight with the Kurds against Islamic State, and the counterterrorism operation resumed in November. Christy Lee contributed to this report from VOA’s Korean Service.
…