January 30, 2019 | Defense One
A Strategic Disaster Looms at the Second Trump-Kim Summit
The Trump administration has declined to rule out withdrawing its troops from South Korea
January 30, 2019 | Defense One
A Strategic Disaster Looms at the Second Trump-Kim Summit
The Trump administration has declined to rule out withdrawing its troops from South Korea
Excerpt
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent shivers through Seoul — and may have prompted champagne popping in Pyongyang — when he told Fox News that the safety of the American homeland comes first and that is why the United States seeks the denuclearization of North Korea. The danger is what he declined to rule out: that the Trump administration may trade away its alliance with South Korea in a foolish and short-sighted pursuit of North Korean promises.
David Maxwell, a 30-year veteran of the United States Army and retired Special Forces colonel, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.