Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
The question we should be asking is why are there any American troops in SK? SK and Japan are big industrial countries and can defend themselves. If they donpt have the will, why is it our concern? All I see them doing is running a highly merchantilist trade policy, where they export massively to us and block our exports.
Of course, the real answer is our troops are there as a nuclear tripwire. China and NK both know our troops would just be a speed bump in the case of a serious Chinese-backed invasion. The concept is their being wiped out would force us to go nuclear. Therefore, there has been no need for SK to develop its own nukes, and we can insist that they do not.
The question before us now is would we really risk nuclear war with China over SK? Obama certainly didn't lose any sleep over our people being slaughtered in Benghazi. His response was to send in some FBI agents a few weeks late and instruct the state-controlled media to stop talking about it. Would Obama even use nukes on NK? He wants to ban them and do away with our stockpile.
If our policy lacks credibility, then the 35,000 odd troops there are risking their lives for nothing basically. Pulling them out, particularly now, makes us look weak and probably would invite an attack. Leaving them there is madness however.
The only person I would trust to unravel this is Henry Kissinger.