U.S. Urged to Reduce Forces in S. Korea

A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday suggested reducing U.S. forces stationed in South Korea and requiring Tokyo to foot the full bill for keeping American troops in Japan.

“The United States can no longer sustain a disproportionate burden of maintaining a common defense for the free world,” said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich). He is chairman of the Armed Services subcommittee on conventional forces and alliance defense.

Levin said in an interview with reporters that he will make his proposals in the form of a “sense of the Senate” resolution that reflects the Senate’s sentiment but has no legal authority.

Specifically, Levin is proposing that the Bush Administration discuss with South Korea a timetable “for a mutually acceptable . . . partial reduction of our forces” and a plan to replace the U.S. commander who has operational control over Korean forces with a South Korean general.

Levin estimated that the 43,000 U.S. troops in South Korea could be reduced to about 10,000.