US Senate approves defense bill reinforcing 28,500-troop baseline in Korea

The US Senate has approved a sweeping annual defense policy bill that reinforces restrictions on any unilateral reduction of US Forces Korea and tightens conditions on the transfer of wartime operational control, underscoring Washington’s insistence that alliance-related changes be guided by security conditions rather than political timelines. The upper chamber on Wednesday passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026 by a 77–20 vote, one week after the bill cleared the Hou