South Korea grapples with ‘clear reality’ of US forces’ shifting role on peninsula

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has bluntly said that Seoul cannot prevent the United States from redeploying military assets from the peninsula, raising concerns about the shifting role of American forces stationed in the country. Analysts say the episode exposes a stark reality for Seoul: US Forces Korea (USFK) are increasingly being used for missions beyond deterring North Korea as Washington pushes for greater “strategic flexibility” for its troops overseas. Lee made the remarks after reports that the US was moving parts of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system from South Korea to the Middle East amid the ongoing regional crisis. Speaking during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lee said the reported redeployment of US air defence systems had drawn significant public attention. “We have expressed opposition to the relocation of some air defence batteries by the US forces here for their own military needs,” Lee said. “But it is also a clear reality that we cannot fully enforce our position in such matters.” South Korea hosts about 28,500 US troops under a decades-old alliance that remains central to the country’s defence posture. Lee sought to reassure the public that the move would not significantly undermine Seoul’s deterrence against North Korea. Citing media reports that the USFK might have recently shipped out some weapons, including an anti-missile defence system, he said: “If asked whether this would seriously hinder our deterrence strategy against North Korea, I can say that it does not.” The president stressed that South Korea’s overall defence posture remained strong, citing the country’s security spending, the growth of its arms industry and its standing in global military power rankings. “Considering the scale of our defence budget, the development of our defence industry, and our international military capabilities – as well as the high morale and sense of responsibility among our service members – there is absolutely no reason to be concerned about our ability to defend the nation,” Lee said. Lee noted that South Korea’s military spending ranked among the world’s five largest and was equivalent to about 1.4 times North Korea’s gross domestic product, underscoring what he described as a “significant gap” in military capabilities between the two countries. He stressed that South Korea should step up efforts to bolster its own defence to prepare for worst-case scenarios amid a shifting international security landscape. “Just as we must routinely prepare for war even if the possibility is slim, there may come times when external support disappears due to changes in the international order,” he said. “We must fully build up our self-reliant defence capabilities so that we can defend ourselves on our own.” The controversy follows a report by The Washington Post, citing two officials, that the Pentagon moved parts of a THAAD system from South Korea to the Middle East, fuelling concerns that the shift could weaken the country’s missile defence against Pyongyang amid heightened cross-border tensions. Doo Jin-ho, director of the Eurasia Research Centre at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, said the relocation of anti-air batteries to the Middle East despite Seoul’s opposition served as a wake-up call for South Korea to the reality that the USFK’s role was already evolving beyond the Korean peninsula. “As part of a broader strategic policy shift, their role has already begun expanding from the South’s defence to deterrence against China. The relocation of some weapons from the South to the Middle East means the evolution of their role is not confined to the Indo-Pacific region,” Doo told This Week in Asia. The policy of granting the USFK greater strategic flexibility had entered an “active implementation phase”, he said. “This means wherever key US interests are at stake, USFK is prepared to be mobilised to project US military power.” Doo added that the redeployment could “undermine Seoul’s confidence in US defence commitment and raise concerns over weakened deterrence”. Cho Han-bum, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the USFK’s role was already expanding under the new US National Defence Strategy. The policy also requires Washington’s allies and partners to take “primary responsibility for their own defence with critical but more limited support from American forces”. “Under this policy, South Korea, like other US allies, is being urged to defend itself on its own through conventional forces under the US nuclear umbrella to allow USFK greater space for manoeuvres abroad,” Cho said. “Through President Lee’s frank remarks, South Koreans have come to face an inconvenient truth – USFK’s role is expanding well beyond the Korean peninsula” even though South Korea spent huge sums hosting them, he said. A stand-off between US and Chinese aircraft over the Yellow Sea last month also exposed a gap between the two allies regarding the USFK’s role, with South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-baek lodging a protest with USFK commander Xavier Brunson. The USFK had reportedly notified the Korean military of its plan ahead of the exercise but apparently did not elaborate on the details, including the purpose of the drills. South Korea and the US later reaffirmed the strength of the bilateral alliance “amid the rapidly changing international security environment”, and agreed to continue close communication and cooperation going forward. A researcher at a state-financed think tank said Lee’s remarks were also meant as a signal to China and other regional countries, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing at the end of the month. “President Lee is signalling to Beijing that the South does not want USFK to be used for hostility against China,” said the researcher, who declined to be named. Washington has been urging allies to do more for “collective defence”, emphasising the need for greater “strategic flexibility”, including expanded roles for the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. Brunson echoed this call in November last year, arguing in a commentary on the USFK website that South Korea was “positioned to address northern threats from Russia while simultaneously providing western reach against Chinese activities in the waters between Korea and China”. More specifically, Brunson said the Korean peninsula could “impose cost” on Russia by preventing its fleet from entering waters east of South Korea. Similarly, off South Korea’s west coast, the east-up orientation “clarifies how forces on the peninsula can impose costs, not only on China’s Northern Theatre Army, but also on the Northern Fleet”, he said.

South Korea grapples with ‘clear reality’ of US forces’ shifting role on peninsula

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}President Lee Jae Myung urges South Korea to boost its own defence amid reports of US military assets being redeployed to the Middle East

President Lee Jae Myung urges South Korea to boost its own defence amid reports of US military assets being redeployed to the Middle East