America’s role in South Korea

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The US stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea. They’re a legacy of the Korean War. James Clad was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia from 2007 to 2009. He speaks with anchor Katy Clark about the US role in South Korea. Download MP3

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KATY CLARK: The U.S. stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea.  They’re a legacy of the Korean War.  James Clad was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia from 2007 to 2009.  And tell us exactly what role do the U.S. troops play in South Korea these days?

JAMES CLAD: I think it’s important to understand those troops are there in a regional as well as a local context.  While having U.S. forces on the Korean mainland may not be in everyone’s best interest and, obviously, the North Koreans would probably prefer they weren’t there, it helps with our relations with Japan, obviously, with South Korea.  And I think the main purpose is to act frankly as a kind of tripwire which would, in a sense, guarantee U.S. involvement in a very major way if war or hostilities, major hostilities occurred again.

CLARK: That average American may not realize that there used to be a high of 50,000 troops there, a fighting force of 50,000.  Now, it’s only about 28,000 isn’t it?

CLAD: That’s right.  Periodically it’s been reduced over the years, partly, it has to be said in response to needs for troops elsewhere in the last decade has obviously seen us get overextended in Iraq and Afghanistan.  But 28,000 still can pack a punch and to regard them as just a token force would be to mistake their ability to play an active role as things really deteriorated which we, obviously, hope they won’t.

CLARK: Well, you’re describing them as sort of a tripwire.  I mean what kind of deterrent are these forces?  They don’t really seem to be making much of a difference in this current conflict?

CLAD: Well, I wouldn’t overstate what’s happening currently.  I mean this is a regime which is so demonstrably wicked and so demonstrably ineffectual as far as looking after its people’s welfare that they only really have one card to play.  And they’ve been playing it pretty effectively not just for years but for decades which is being the bad boy in the neighborhood.  This one’s different because of the transition politics relating to the regime in Pyung Yang and to the very limited room for maneuver that presently in the south has.  And also, let’s not forget the Chinese are also having their own transition from one leadership to another within the Communist Party.

So it’s coming at a kind of tricky time but those troops — just imagine the situation if they weren’t there and you could imagine the situation in which the dangers of escalation, which I think rise a lot faster.

CLARK: So, is a force of 28,000 troops really enough to protect South Korea?

CLAD: No, it’s not about that force protecting them, it’s about guaranteeing a robust American response if something far worse happened than the shelling of this island.

CLARK: And a U.S. aircraft carrier is headed to the Yellow Sea for joint military maneuvers with the south.  Those maneuvers are to begin on Sunday.  A spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said today that Beijing had concern about these drills.  In some way, is the U.S. presence becoming a hindrance in the region?

CLAD: No, the U.S. presence in the Western Pacific is something that the Chinese who are feeling very full of oats these days would prefer to see diminished.  But, frankly, it’s too bad for them.  These are exercises that have been planned a long time.  I think, frankly, the view in Washington is changing to a reluctant decision to get into the game, not provocatively, not in any main calling sense but to balance Chinese pressure in Asia.  And I think that this exercise, if it were to be called off, would send absolutely the wrong signal to the Chinese.  It would telegraph weakness rather than resolve.

CLARK: James Clad was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia from 2007 to 2009.  Thanks for your time.

CLAD:  My pleasure.

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