Korean Media: US Defense Authorization Bill Passed in Both Houses ... Restricting Unilateral Reduction of US Troops in South Korea

On the 11th, the US Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with 77 votes in favor and 20 against. The defense budget included in this bill is 90.1 billion USD (approximately 133 trillion KRW), which is 8 billion USD higher than the government's requested budget. The US defense budget exceeds 100 trillion KRW (about 477 billion RMB) annually, and thus it is called a "trillion country." This bill, passed by both houses, includes content that prohibits reducing the number of US troops stationed in South Korea below the current 28,500. The bill also contains expressions such as "reaffirming the commitment of extended deterrence (nuclear umbrella) of US forces and strengthening the alliance with South Korea." It will take effect after being signed by President Donald Trump.

The clause in NDAA restricting the use of the Department of Defense budget for reducing the number of US troops stationed in South Korea disappeared during the Biden administration but reappeared five years later after Trump's second term began. During the Biden administration, the NDAA also included statements about maintaining the number of US troops stationed in South Korea around 28,500 based on the Republic of Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty, but did not link it to the use of the budget. While the Trump administration emphasized the slogan of "America First" and hinted at the possibility of adjusting the posture of overseas troops, the move by the US Congress was seen as a restraint on the government. The New York Times (NYT) reported that the bill "also prohibits the Secretary of Defense from shortening the deployment of forces stationed in Europe by more than 45 days or reducing them to fewer than 76,000 people."

NDAA also includes content that cannot be used to transfer the wartime operational command authority of the Combined Forces Command from US forces to the South Korean military through a method outside the Republic of Korea-US agreement. However, the condition is that if it is in the interest of US national security, or if the relevant committee has submitted confirmation that appropriate consultations have been made with allied countries, including South Korea, Japan, and the United Nations Command, the ban can be lifted 60 days later. The Yoon Suk-yeol government aims to transfer command authority within its term; on the 10th, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also stated "I think this is a great thing," indicating a supportive attitude.

According to the New York Times, despite opposition from some Republican legislators, the NDAA still approved an additional 800 million USD in military aid to Ukraine, as well as millions of dollars in support for allies or strategic partners such as Israel and Taiwan. The content includes: "We fully support Trump's request for military training budgets with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. We will provide 1 billion USD support for the Taiwan cooperation project." In the case of the incident involving a suspected drug trafficking ship near Venezuela's waters in September, where a second attack was conducted on survivors, a controversy arose over "war crimes." In this context, the bill also stipulates that specific orders for the attack and unedited attack videos must be disclosed to Congress. If this regulation is not followed, 25% of Hegseth's travel budget will be cut. Previously, Chief of Staff Dan Caine and the naval admiral Frank Bradley who commanded the operation had already reported the situation to Congress, and Hegseth stated he would not disclose the full video to the public.

Additionally, the bill decided to increase military pay by 3.8%, reflecting bipartisan support in Congress for spending on new submarines, fighter jets, drones, and other defense areas. At the same time, it abolished the "Authorization for Use of Military Force" (AUMF) enacted during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2002 Iraq War, which granted the president actual war powers. AUMF refers to the power of the president to launch a war without congressional approval when it is judged that a hostile country is about to attack the United States. NDAA is a law enacted in 1961 to formulate the US defense budget, and it is recompiled every year. The bill outlines the main defense tasks faced by the US that year, sets the required budget, and becomes effective after being passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president. The validity period of this NDAA is from October of this year to September of next year.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

Original: toutiao.com/article/1851898304430272/

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