백악관 "한국•독일 등 미군배치 조항 우려…국방수권법 거부"
With about a month before the change in leadership in the U.S., President Donald Trump plans to veto the defense bill that limits the president's ability to withdraw U.S. troops currently stationed in other countries including South Korea.
But his veto is likely to be overriden by Congress.
Kim Ji-yeon has the details.
U.S. President Donald Trump is to veto the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act... that has been overwhelmingly passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives... and includes several measures aimed at checking the president's powers on troop movements.
In a press conference on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany said there isn't a timeline just yet on when he plans to veto it... but said the president had a number of problems... including a provision about troop withdrawal and deployment in South Korea, Afghanistan and Germany.
The 740-and-a-half billion U.S. dollar spending bill includes limitations for lowering the number of U.S. forces stationed in South Korea from the current level of 28-thousand-500... unless it is in the U.S. security interests... and does not overly hurt its security alliance.
This comes amid reports of a possible reduction of troops by the Trump administration... to be used as a bargaining chip in defense cost-sharing talks... and to realign U.S. troops overseas.
The White House spokesperson also said the defense bill doesn't include a provision to gut legal protections for social media companies, which lawmakers have argued doesn't fall into the jurisdiction of military policy.
President Trump has less than a week to sign the bill into law or issue a veto.
Congress would then have to vote again on the measure to override it.
The Senate passed the defense bill by a vote of 84 to 13... and the House passed it with a 335 to 78 vote, both more than the two-thirds majority required to potentially override a presidential veto.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.
