Pulling US troops out of Korea was Trump's second-term priority, Esper's memoir reveals

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sun, October 1, 2023 | 21:53

Defense

Pulling US troops out of Korea was Trump's second-term priority, Esper's memoir reveals

Posted : 2022-06-15 17:00

Updated : 2022-06-16 17:02

In this July 23, 2019, file photo, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, left, delivers remarks in front of President Donald Trump, shortly after being sworn in at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. EPA-Yonhap

Ex-Pentagon chief says evacuation announcement for Americans amid NK tensions canceled at last moment

By Jung Min-ho

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's desire to pull U.S. troops completely out of South Korea was serious and he kept the plan alive as his second-term priority, according to former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper's memoir, published last month.

In the book, "A Sacred Oath," Esper said Trump repeatedly pushed to withdraw the U.S. forces from South Korea, which, in his view, was not paying its fair share of the associated costs.

Esper, 58, Republican former secretary of the Army (November 2017 to July 2019) and former secretary of defense (July 2019 to November 2020) under the Trump administration, became uneasy whenever the commander-in-chief talked about the need for American withdrawal.

"I was able to make my best case against any such moves by reminding him that I had a global posture review under way ― which I did ― but only bought me time. Pompeo jumped in once to help, saying 'Mr. President, you should make that [withdrawing U.S. forces from Korea] a second-term priority,'" he said. "Trump responded with 'Yeah, yeah, second term,' as a Cheshire cat smile came across his face."

The episode shows that Trump's plan was never abandoned ― only delayed. Trump, who lost his reelection bid to Joe Biden, has hinted at running for the White House again in 2024, which would be a concern for South Korea's long-term defense plans.

During his time at the Pentagon, Esper said war with North Korea was a real possibility. In another critical event, he received an urgent call that Trump was ordering a withdrawal of all U.S. military dependents from South Korea and that he was going to make it official soon. This came only a few weeks after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un taunted each other about the capabilities of their respective nuclear weapons.

"Evacuating all American military family members was such an unexpected and dramatic move that many would likely interpret it that war was on the horizon, if not imminent. It would probably trigger a panic that would affect the South Korean economy, its stock market, air transportation, and a range of other things," he said.

"Kim would probably view a U.S. evacuation as a prelude to conflict … Would he strike first, targeting Seoul in a bloody assault? Maybe even seize the city of 10 million and then sue for peace before the United States could act with sufficient force … Nobody knew, but this was a dangerous game of chicken, and with nuclear roosters no less. If the president was going to announce an evacuation, then, we needed to be ready for war."

To the relief of Esper and so many others, somebody talked Trump out of sending the tweet announcing it.

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in this June 30, 2019, file photo. Reuters-Yonhap

Throughout the book, Esper criticizes Trump, describing his former boss as too materialistic and impulsive. Yet he praised Trump's decision to have summits with Kim, for which his political opponents condemned him harshly.

"Many complained that Trump gave Kim what he wanted ― a high-profile meeting that raised his stature ― and received nothing in return. That is true in many ways, but Trump's engagement did get us off the warpath and kept things under control through the end of his term," Esper said.

"I had watched Presidents Bush, Clinton, and Obama try similar approaches dating back to the early 1990s with no real effect. Why not try a different diplomatic tack, especially when nuclear weapons are on the table?"

The previous Moon Jae-in government was criticized by some as "pro-China." This was how Esper felt when dealing with South Korea, which was "drifting into Beijing's orbit." He added that South Korea's strategy of maintaining China as its main economic partner while keeping the U.S. as its security one would not work.

"(South Korea) hopes that both approaches are compatible. They aren't, of course, yet this seems to be the path they were headed down," Esper wrote.

mj6c2@koreatimes.co.kr