[laconic]

Yes, all those cheap consumer goods they used to make are now made by the Chinese. I agree, there is no purpose for us there now other than to deter North Korea from attacking them and taking a lot of cheap abuse in the process (Russia and China could care less about either the North or the South) and quite frankly, WHO CARES ABOUT EITHER KOREA IN THE US?

[Dan Day]

I agree, there is no purpose for us there now other than to deter North Korea from attacking them and taking a lot of cheap abuse in the process

There's one other consideration...

Currently, North Korea is on the ragged edge of collapsing under its own xenophobic communism. A few more years and that problem may solve itself.

But if they were able to invade South Korea without consequence and forcibly appropriate its resources, material/food stockpiles, manpower, and robust industrial capacity, it could continue to build its war machine for another decade at the very least.

We'd probably still have the Soviet Union to contend with today if in the mid 1980's Reagan had pulled us out of Europe and let the Soviets take what they needed to continue their failed policies.