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Just the US military mission in South Korea costs $1.1 billion a year. Dealing with the North Korean situation would make most of that spending completely unneeded.

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Even without North Korea, I can't imagine the US giving up a military base within spitting distance of mainland China anytime soon.

More American troops are stationed in Germany than in Korea, and Germany has been united for over 20 years.

Ongoing cost of the U.S. bases in Korea isn't likely an issue. You have to house those troops somewhere and bringing them back to the U.S. would require building and/or expanding of existing domestic facilities so the economics would make keeping the existing bases ideal.

I'm not sure how it works for the US army but don't people get "mission" wages which are many times the base wage they'd get if they were at home?

They get hazardous duty pay if they are serving in a hazardous zone, I dont think they get anything extra for serving at a peaceful base, no matter where it is.

Not an expert but based on my research it doesn't seem like this is a meaningful number at an individual level or at the aggregate base level: http://www.militaryrates.com/military-pay-incentives

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