Resolved: The US Federal Government should remove military presence and economic aid from S. Korea

Rules No trolling Please have some sort of format for your response This debate is about policy, I will allow moral responses but keep this in mind BOP is shared Please be courteous and have fun Contention 1: South Korea has the potential to be self-sufficient. South Korea was originally a country that needed our help to protect itself from North Korea. Those days have passed as we realize that in the status quo, South Korea has made progress to the point of not needing us as a supplier of military personnel anymore. This is clear if we look toward Global Fire Power where we see that South Korea is ranked 11th globally in military strength, while North Korea is ranked 25th globally in military prowess. http://www.globalfirepower.com... Also, South Korea is supported by a strong economy that can back up the military in the country. With a GDP of over one trillion dollars and a huge population, we can see that most certainly, South Korea can protect itself against the enemy of North Korea without the aid of military personnel from the United States within the region. Not only this, but South Korea seems to be furthering economic goals without the aid of the United States, which is an amazing monument of progress from years ago. According to the Heritage Foundation: “Recent reforms have put greater emphasis on enhancing regulatory efficiency and ensuring a larger role for small and medium-size enterprises in the economy. South Korea’s dynamic private sector, bolstered by a well-educated, hard-working labor force, continues to capitalize on the country’s openness to global trade and investment” http://www.heritage.org... These reforms are happening without much US involvement in the economic business of the country in recent years, meaning smart economic reforms have been done entirely without the United States having a role to play in general. This signals to the US that we have done our part and that we need to let the country grow on its own. Finally, let us look toward the fact that South Korea has even more power because, according to National Interest in September, 2015, we see that South Korea has taken the originally North Korean allies of China and Russia, and made them in support of South Korea instead. http://nationalinterest.org... Clearly, South Korea needs to be self-sufficient, and the United States needs to stop supplying the ROK with unnecessary aid. Contention 2: We ruin our relations with South Korea with control of their defense In the status quo, our relations with South Korea are shaky at best due to our GI’s plethora of human rights abuses including crimes against the people in South Korea. In fact, according to a Stanford University study, we can see that the crime rate for GIs in these US bases are quite high: “In South Korea, crimes that are committed on average five times or more in a day by American soldiers go unpunished, not to mention numerous rape and murder incidents in which most criminals can flee and hide from the crime scene since they are not placed under Korean jurisdiction until convicted.” http://web.stanford.edu... These incidents have manifested many protests and anti-American sentiment among the South Korean people. We can see an example of this if we turn toward the George Mason University study where we can see a story of two South Korean teenagers who were crushed to death under a US tank. This was said to be an accident and the people who were responsible were acquitted. This is one of many examples that would raise anti-American sentiment in the region. https://www.gmu.edu... We also see that we endanger our relation with South Korea in another way as well. When we turn toward the Environmental Law Institute study authored by Young Geun Chae of the professor of Law at the Inha University in South Korea, we can see troubling details of how the US military operations ruin the environment of South Korea. Out of 33 sites we have returned to the South Korean people, over 20 had contaminated groundwater. Not only does this ruin our relations with a major ally in Asia, it harms the productivity of the agricultural sector of South Korea, as well as putting people’s health in danger. http://elr.info... With this in mind, it should be obvious that we should affirm today’s bill to make a better name for ourselves overseas and protect the South Korean people. Ergo, affirm. Contention 3: Our troops are needed elsewhere Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably realize that the crisis in Syria needs to be addressed. However, with the current presence in other areas of the world, we see our prowess in the Middle East diluted. Keeping in mind that we have very little military intelligence. In fact, if we turn toward Foreign Policy we see the following: “Because of the ongoing civil war and deteriorating security environment, the United States closed its Embassy in Damascus in February, 2012, and maintains no official presence in Syria. Consequently, America’s access to and understanding about the Assad regime, terrorist groups, foreign intervention, and conditions on the ground is severely limited.” http://foreignpolicy.com... Fixing this problem will most certainly involve expanding our military presence and intelligence to make sure that our military operations are effective. But, with our continued aid toward South Korea, we don’t have the manpower to expand our military prowess. Not only this, but Russia has the ability to undermine American power in the Middle East as well without continued commitment from the US. Russia has been gaining support from the Assad regime and started killing the rebels that the United States has been supporting and funding. Not only this, but Putin is also trying to take out ISIS, gaining more prestige from Bashar Al-Assad, which have also led to Russia trying to leech into America’s current allies as well so the United States has less international support. http://intpolicydigest.org... With this in mind, we can clearly see the benefit of having military presence elsewhere besides the South Korea. We need to utilize our forces wisely, so vote for the pro side. As clearly shown, the US needs to take out military and economic aid from South Korea and look elsewhere to use its manpower more effectively. I urge you to affirm.