What North Korea stands to lose if US Forces Korea expands mission to China | NK News
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May 01, 2025May 01, 2025
Analysis

What North Korea stands to lose if US Forces Korea expands mission to China

Despite Seoul's fears of abandonment, a focus on Taiwan contingencies could entrench US military presence on peninsula

For over 70 years, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has been at the center of joint efforts to deter North Korean aggression, with nearly 30,000 American troops now stationed in the South to defend against any attack.

But as the strategic landscape changes and the Trump administration remakes U.S. priorities, the prospect is growing that the military command established after the Korean War could soon expand its mission beyond the peninsula — and directly assert itself into the escalating great power competition between Washington and Beijing.

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