US experts have concluded that shipbuilding cooperation between the US and South Korea is likely to remain at a declarative level due to significant political barriers in the US. During a media briefing by the Stimson Center in Washington, experts emphasized that while the reduction of US troops in South Korea has been a longstanding assertion from former President Donald Trump, there are numerous practical constraints that make this challenging to execute. Kelly Grieco, a senior researcher at the center, noted that although there is a likelihood of US Army force reduction in the medium to long term, disagreements within the Department of Defense regarding replacing ground forces with naval or air power complicate the process. Some argue that US Air Force bases in South Korea are still crucial for countering China, while others express doubts about their effectiveness given potential political constraints from the South Korean government.

Grieco further elaborated that despite much discussion during Trump's first term regarding troop levels, actual policy implementation faced numerous hurdles, leading to the possibility that troop levels may not change significantly. He cautioned that even with discussions around potential troop reductions, the lack of a concrete execution plan would make swift changes unrealistic. Additionally, he pointed out that without the transfer of wartime operational control, adjusting large troop levels would remain a complex task.

On the matter of shipbuilding cooperation, Christopher Preble, head of the Center for Strategic Reassessment at Stimson, highlighted the scarcity of skilled shipbuilding labor in the US, suggesting that commanding South Korean companies to invest in the US is unsustainable on an industrial level. He predicted that the cooperation is likely to result in merely declarative agreements rather than substantial production collaboration. Overall, the findings contribute to a larger discourse on the viability of military and industrial partnerships between the two nations amidst existing limitations.