U.S. House Committee passes fiscal year 2026 defense bill barring reduction of U.S. Forces Korea

The U.S. House Committee passed a defense budget bill for the fiscal year 2026.

It included maintaining the current level of U.S. Forces Korea, amid ongoing concerns that the Trump administration could reduce the number of troops.

Our defense correspondent Kim Bo-kyoung tells us more.

The U.S. defense spending bill for the 2026 fiscal year calls for maintaining the current size of the U.S. Forces Korea passed the first hurdle of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The U.S. Defense Authorization Act's passing by the House Armed Services Committee comes amid concerns over the possibility of the Trump administration cutting the number of U.S. Forces Korea troops.

The bill passed by a verbal vote, was Republican congressman Joe Wilson's amendment to the NDAA, where he stated that the defense secretary should continue efforts to strengthen alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

Such efforts, would include maintaining the current size of U.S. forces in South Korea, enhancing mutual defense cooperation, and reaffirming the U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence using all available defense capabilities.

This text is the same, as the current 2025 NDAA which passed Congress in December last year.

The previous draft of the 2026 NDAA, which the committee chairman, Republican Mike Rogers shared with the committee, did not include a part stipulating maintaining the status quo with regard to the size of U.S. troops in South Korea, until Wilson's amendment.

The phrase in the NDAA is not legally binding, however, it has often been accepted as Congress' recommendation.

The passage of the NDAA at the lower house committee comes after the Senate committee passed its own version of the fiscal year 2026 NDAA on Friday.

The Senate's version contained a new part that prohibits any decrease in USFK personnel or transfer of wartime operational control to Korean forces unless the defense secretary certifies to Congress that such moves are in the national interest.

It also called for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Indo-Pacific Command commander and the USFK commander to conduct independent assessments on the risks associated with troop reductions or transfer of wartime operational control.

With the U.S. administration expected to announce a plan for the global repositioning of U.S. troops and defense strategy as early as the end of August, eyes are on how the NDAA will eventually turn out.

The defense spending bills are expected to undergo a consultation process between the House and Senate, be adjusted into a single proposal, and finalized with President Donald Trump's signature.

Kim Bo-kyoung, Arirang News.