What happens to S. Korea after a potential U.S. troop drawdown?

At a time when the world is facing myriad challenges, an international peace forum brought together pundits from around the world to Korea's Jeju island.

Among the issues addressed was a possible U.S. troop drawdown from South Korea.

Our foreign affairs correspondent Bae Eun-ji takes a look.

A potential troop reduction will not have a negative impact on the U.S.'s ability to meet treaty obligations to help South Korea defend itself against an attack from North Korea.

That's according to retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Harris --a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and a former head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Speaking to reporters on Friday at an annual peace forum held on Jeju Island, he stressed that threats in the region from the likes of North Korea, China, or Russia are not isolated from each other.

"Again, we have to look at them holistically. And I believe that if there were, 'if' is the key word here. If there was a restructuring of some forces in Korea, ultimately it would serve to defend Korea better than it would not."

His comments come after the U.S. is reportedly considering withdrawing around 4,500 troops deployed to South Korea, and as the Trump administration will likely seek to renegotiate a deal on sharing costs for maintaining forces in Korea.

Scott Snyder, the head of the Korea Economic Institute of America, who was also at the Jeju Forum, noted that there needs to be a broader discussion on this issue, including in areas such as technology and defense industrial production.

"Honestly, I don't think that President Trump could get what he wanted from it last time, in the first administration, and it basically fails to be used as a lever. But we have so many other ways that we're cooperating on defense issues in the world, and so there's a lot to be considered."

During his first term, Trump called for a whopping fivefold increase in Seoul's contribution to maintaining U.S. troops.

He will likely seek to renegotiate a deal on this once South Korea has a new president next week.

With the Trump administration demanding that Seoul increase its share of defense costs, this issue remains a crucial challenge for the next Korean government to overcome.

Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News, Jeju.