S.Korean Minister: US Troops Likely to Stay Even if Trump is Re-elected

A group photo of South Korean and US forces after joint combat exercises near the demilitarized zone in Bucheon (Reuters)
A group photo of South Korean and US forces after joint combat exercises near the demilitarized zone in Bucheon (Reuters)
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S.Korean Minister: US Troops Likely to Stay Even if Trump is Re-elected

A group photo of South Korean and US forces after joint combat exercises near the demilitarized zone in Bucheon (Reuters)
A group photo of South Korean and US forces after joint combat exercises near the demilitarized zone in Bucheon (Reuters)

The United States is unlikely to cut back its forces in South Korea even if former US president Donald Trump wins re-election, the South's minister tasked with matters related to neighbouring North Korea said in a television interview.

In the interview transmitted on Saturday, Unification Minister Kim Yung Ho told broadcaster KBS this was because the US Congress had already decided the matter in a defense bill it recently passed.

"One of the concerns many people have is... the issue of any withdrawal of US troops from Korea" if Trump is re-elected, Kim said, Reuters reported.

But December's National Defense Authorization Act says the US administration requires congressional approval to scale back the 28,500 troops in South Korea, Kim said.

Strengthening ties between the United States, South Korea and Japan would help overcome any political changes in the US, he added.

At Camp David last August, US President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to strengthen military and economic co-operation.

The comments came in Kim's reply to a question on a Politico report that Trump was considering letting North Korea keep its nuclear weapons, and offering financial incentives to stop making new bombs - which Trump has denied as "fake news".

"Recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power means that South Korea will have no choice but to develop nuclear weapons, and Japan (also)," Kim said, when asked about the views of some US experts.

These analysts argue that North Korea should be recognized as a nuclear state and call for disarmament talks.

Neither the United States or South Korea can accept the prospect of recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state, since that would trigger a domino effect leading to the collapse of the Non-Proliferation Treaty framework, Kim said.

The neighbours remain technically in a state of war since the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.



Trump Team Says Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deal Brokered by Biden Is Actually Trump’s Win

Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)
Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Trump Team Says Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deal Brokered by Biden Is Actually Trump’s Win

Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)
Former US President Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Traverse City, Michigan on October 25, 2024. (AFP)

The Biden administration kept President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration closely apprised of its efforts to broker the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah that took effect early Wednesday, according to the outgoing Democratic administration.

Trump’s team, meanwhile, was quick to spike the football and claim credit for the rare spot of good news for a Democratic administration that's been dragged down by the grinding Mideast conflict.

"Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump," Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, Trump’s choice for his national security adviser, said in a post on X on Tuesday, shortly before the Israel Cabinet signed off on the agreement. "His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won’t be tolerated. I’m glad to see concrete steps towards de-escalation in the Middle East."

The Biden administration's reported coordination with Trump's team on its efforts to forge the ceasefire in Lebanon is perhaps the highest-profile example of cooperation in what's been a sometimes choppy transition period.

Trump's transition team just Tuesday reached a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House that will allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. There has been some coordination on high levels between the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump teams, including talks between Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Waltz.

Biden in Rose Garden remarks on Tuesday cheered the ceasefire agreement as a critical step that he hoped could be the catalyst for a broader peace in the Mideast, which has been shaken by nearly 14 months of war following Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said. "What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed — I emphasize, will not be allowed — to threaten the security of Israel again."

White House officials are now hopeful that a calm in Lebanon will reinvigorate a multi-country effort at finding an endgame to the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable.

Biden said the US, as well as Israel, will engage in talks in the coming days with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye to try to get Gaza talks back on track.

But during Biden's moment of success in a conflict that has roiled his reputation at home and abroad, the specter of the incoming Trump administration loomed large.

Trump’s senior national security team was briefed by the Biden administration as negotiations unfolded and finally came to a conclusion on Tuesday, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity on a call organized by the White House, added that the incoming Trump administration officials were not directly involved in the talks, but that it was important that they knew "what we were negotiating and what the commitments were."

Trump's team and allies, meanwhile, said there was no doubt that the prospect of the Republican president returning to power pushed both sides to get the agreement done.

Waltz, in addition to giving Trump credit for the ceasefire deal coming together, added a warning to Iran, Hezbollah's chief financial backer.

"But let’s be clear: The Iran Regime is the root cause of the chaos & terror that has been unleashed across the region. We will not tolerate the status quo of their support for terrorism," Waltz said in his post.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, also gave a shoutout to the incoming administration, while giving a nod to Biden's team.

"I appreciate the hard work of the Biden Administration, supported by President Trump, to make this ceasefire a reality," Graham said in a statement.

Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Washington group Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said the moment magnifies that Iran — which he said would have needed to approve of Hezbollah agreeing to the ceasefire — is carefully weighing what lays ahead with Trump.

"There’s zero doubt that Iran is pulling back to regroup ahead of Trump coming into office," said Goldberg, a National Security Council official in Trump's first administration. "It’s a combination of Israeli military success and Trump’s election — the ayatollah has no clothes and he knows we know."