THE KOREAS & THE US: It's Time for the U.S. Army to Leave Korea

U.S. President Barack Obama gets a hug as he rallies U.S. troops at Osan Air Base in a Nov. 19, 2009 trip. (AP)

Joshua Stanton: After 60 Years, It's Time We Should Withdraw

(The New Ledger) Joshua Stanton blogs at OneFreeKorea.

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Proceeding against the advice of my cardiologist, I must concede that for once, Ron Paul is actually on to something. The ground component of U.S. Forces Korea, which costs U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars a year to maintain, is an equally unaffordable political liability on the South Korean street. We should withdraw it. Every Saturday night off-post brawl is a headline in the muck-raking Korean press, for which the American soldier is inevitably blamed, and for which angry mobs perpetually demand renegotiations of the Status of Force Agreement to give Korea’s not-even-remotely-fair judicial system more jurisdiction over American soldiers.

The South Korean people do not appreciate the security our soldiers provide . . .

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