SEOUL — Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election is rekindling concerns in South Korea that his next administration could look to reduce, or even withdraw, the American presence on the Korean Peninsula, thereby leaving the South vulnerable to attack by nuclear-armed North Korea.
Trump has long depicted U.S. allies like Japan and South Korea as freeloaders sponging off the U.S. milit and has voiced intentions to end milit support or demand they pay more for protection. But critics in both countries have pointed out that both Seoul and Tokyo spend huge sums on their own militaries and for the costs of stationing U.S. troops on their soil.
