U.S. Senate Approves Bill Securing Troop Numbers in Korea

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill that will ensure that the U.S. Forces Korea do not fall below 22,000 troops without authorization from Congress.

The bill passed by 87-10 votes in a full session of the Senate on Wednesday.

The two chambers of Congress merged two different bills that had passed the House and the Senate into a single bill. It will go into effect once U.S. President Donald Trump signs it.

Under the bill, the number of American troops in South Korea, currently 28,500, cannot be reduced to less than 22,000 unless Congress accepts a report from the secretary of defense that further reduction will not seriously compromise the security of the U.S. and its allies, i.e., South Korea and Japan.

It also obliges the government to report to Congress any verification and assessment in implementing a nuclear agreement it will conclude with North Korea in the future.

The bill states that the withdrawal or reduction of the USFK is a long-time goal of China, Russia and North Korea and the North's nuclear weapons development is a security threat to the entire Indo-Pacific region, including South Korea and Japan, as well as to the U.S.

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