How dependent is South Korea on the U.S. military?

Question

I always hear Koreans saying they don't want the U.S. soldiers here. I hear U.S. soldiers saying they don't want to be here.

I'm an American business consultant / university professor, so I'm outside of this loop.

Anyone can answer, but I'd especially appreciate answers from U.S. military personnel.

Thank you.

Answer 1

South Korea depends on us a lot to protect them from North Korea.  U.S. soldiers don't want to be in Korea because when they go to Korea, they have to live there for a year.  That's as much as I have gathered from my dad.  Someone else can probably give you a better answer lol.

Answer 2

Whoever said we need to pull troops out and get them to guard our borders is a moron. Although the Koreans and the Americans have had some rough times together, for the most part the US military presence in Korea is beneficial to both sides.

For America: We Americans need to maintain our control in the Pacific. To have international influence, control in the Pacific is necessary. Now if you look at China, they are expanding their naval, air, & all other military capabilities. Now I'm not saying that China wants to take over Asia. However, China will be looking forward to expanding their sphere of influence, and we are bound to get in conflict (Not necessarily military conflict) with China. Therefore, if we want to keep our presence in the Pacific, keeping troops in S. Korea, Japan, etc. would be the smartest thing to do.

For Korea: The USFK (United States Forces Korea) protects Korea. What does Korea do? They fail to properly help fund the US-Korea alliance. This is a topic of debate to this day. Why does Korea need American support? Well, no matter how high tech your military is, it is hard to defend such a tiny peninsula. Imagine an enemy like China trying to take over. If they wanted to, they would. Having America on our side is the best possible chance of ever surviving. The bilateral cooperation among South Korea and America is the bedrock of South Korean national defense. Korea also has to consider the economic problems that would occur if America were to leave. Korea makes a bundle on having Koreans working as employees in American bases. Also, Koreans must consider all the nearly free state of the art equipment they get from the USFK for a tiny fee. Furthermore, a loss of the USFK means a loss of political influence in Washington. Koreans don't want that now do they ha.

While tensions have escalated recently, and there have been occasional surges of Anti-Americanism in Korea, relations are still relatively strong. What I feel should be done on both parts is an upgrade of education. Many South Korean are using outdated textbooks that often show subtle hints of Pro-North Korean views and Anti-Americanism. The same should be done on America's part. We often neglect the importance of this alliance and the general public is either unaware, or disapproves of our current alliance with South Korea. In order to stop people from being impetuous and saying things like pulling out our troops to guard our borders, we need to educate our people. Hope this helped :)

Answer 3

we should let our troops leave and come back to the USA to guard our borders...South Korea actually did benefit from our help but they will not admit that. Well we can bring all of our troops back from Korea, Japan, and Europe and have them guard our borders instead...