Billions for Bases:
A new report from the Center for International Policy by David Vine examines how much U.S. taxpayers are paying to maintain the U.S. military in Korea. This report shows that the true costs of U.S. military spending in Korea are being grossly underreported.
In South Korea, the U.S. military:
• Stations 28,500 troops
• Maintains over 70 U.S. bases and installations, including Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.
• Runs constant war drills. In 2024 alone, 109 joint war drills lasting for 275 days.
Vine’s report shows that U.S. taxpayers currently spend around $5.5-6 billion to maintain U.S. bases and troops in South Korea, and that true costs are likely much more. In fiscal year 2024, the total was 51% more than the $2.2 billion (51%) reported by the Pentagon.
And more alarmingly, omitted costs are vast.
The Pentagon omits various agencies outside of the Army, Navy, and Airforce, overlooking ~$2.4 billion of spending over the four years. Additionally, military personnel costs, military construction, the deployment of temporary or rotational U.S. forces, Joint Chiefs of Staff war training exercises in South Korea, and many, many more military activity costs are omitted from official documentation.
The gross misrepresentation of costs not only reveals a failure to accurately report where U.S. tax dollars go, but also calls for the public and our political representatives to question the necessity of U.S. military presence in South Korea.
Do U.S. forces really bring peace and stability to Korea?
Is there really a ceiling to U.S. military spending if over $6 billion is spent on maintaining U.S. troops in Korea in one year alone?
