The U.S. Senate has approved an annual defense policy bill that includes plans to maintain 28-thousand-500 American troops in South Korea.

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025, worth 895-point-two billion U.S. dollars, passed the Senate on Wednesday with a vote of 85-14.

The overall defense budget increased nine billion dollars, or around one percent, from fiscal year 2024.

The bill highlighted the “sense of Congress” that the U.S. Defense Department should reinforce the alliance with South Korea by maintaining the presence of U.S. Forces Korea(USFK), reaffirming the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence.

The bill also requires the Pentagon to report on plans to strengthen the U.S. extended deterrence for South Korea and ways to advance trilateral defense cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

The Senate bill is set to be merged with the House of Representatives’ version of the bill for another round of voting before presidential authorization.