Trump’s Talk of Pulling Troops From Germany Leaves Asian Allies Wondering If They’re Next

A threat by President Trump to cut the number of American troops in Germany is setting off alarm bells in America’s two main Asian allies, Japan and South Korea.Mr. Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday to expect a decision on withdrawing troops from Germany “over the next short period of time.” That inspired a leading South Korean newspaper, JoongAng Ilbo, to ask, “Will it affect the USFK?” — that is, United States Forces Korea.The mention of reducing American troops has been hypersensitive in South Korea since Mr. Trump talked during his first term of pulling out some of America’s 28,500 troops, many of them at America’s largest overseas base, Camp Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul. Speculation keeps rising as Washington focuses on the war in Iran, for which it dispatched missiles from South Korea as well as warships, including aircraft carriers, that might otherwise be in the region.Mr. Trump’s talk about pulling out some of America’s 36,000 troops from Germany stems from a dispute that might seem remote from Asia but sends tremors worldwide.Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other European leaders, notably Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have upset Mr. Trump with their reluctance to support their American ally in the war in Iran. They have not only refused to participate in military action to force open the Strait of Hormuz but have also made disparaging comments that infuriated the president.The South Korean press has quoted Mr. Merz as saying Iran was “humiliating” America in the war, and Mr. Trump’s depiction of the leaders of his nation’s European allies as “cowards.” Mr. Trump has also made headlines in South Korea for saying the South has not been “helpful” about supporting America while American forces stand “in harm’s way” against nuclear-armed North Korea.“The Trump administration has consistently hinted at adjusting the posture of U.S. troops stationed overseas, but this is the first time it has mentioned the possibility of reducing U.S. troops in Germany,” said JoongAng Ilbo. “If the Trump administration enforces the reduction of US troops in Germany, attention is focused on how it will affect US forces stationed in European countries as well as US forces in Korea.”The Japanese are just as sensitive to Mr. Trump’s hints at cutting down troop strength, but the circumstances are considerably different from those in Korea and Europe. America has 54,000 or so troops in Japan, more than in any other country, but the majority of them are in the southernmost island prefecture of Okinawa. America maintains one of its largest overseas air bases at Kadena, on Okinawa, and has had at least a division of Marines there for years.Mr. Trump may also want to follow through on hints dating from his first term at reducing forces in Japan, but Japan’s right-leaning prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, committed to building up Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, appears to have convinced him during their recent summit at Washington that Japan is a crucial ally against Communist Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific.A Tokyo-based commentator, Julian Ryall, writes that the Americans and Japanese are having second thoughts about announced plans to send thousands of the Marines elsewhere, possibly Guam, an American territory, or Australia.“Some voices are now calling to abandon the process altogether in light of China’s military buildup in the region,” he writes, quoting a report published by the Washington think tank, the Atlantic Council, warning that withdrawing Marines “risks undermining deterrence” against China.The Japan Times reported a suggestion by the commander of American Forces in Korea, General Xavier Brunson, to bring America’s treaty allies — Japan, South Korea, and possibly the Philippines — together in what he called “a kill web that achieves combined joint, all-domain effect.”The paper described a “kill web” as “a concept aimed at creating a faster and more flexible system to identify and strike targets” by which “any sensor — such as a satellite, drone or soldier — can pass real-time data to any shooter, including aircraft, ships or missile systems.”

Trump’s Talk of Pulling Troops From Germany Leaves Asian Allies Wondering If They’re Next

Trump’s Talk of Pulling Troops From Germany Leaves Asian Allies Wondering If They’re Next

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