Trump: "Korea to Pay More for Defense Cooperation" (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Major foreign media reported on the 29th (local time) that U.S. President Donald Trump said, "South Korea has agreed to pay more money to the U.S. for the defense cooperation agreement."

According to the reports, President Trump did not mention the amount. Although it is unclear whether the term "defense cooperation agreement" refers to the Korea-U.S. defense cost-sharing agreement, considering that on the 10th a news agency reported that President Trump rejected South Korea's proposal to increase the cost by 13%, it is highly likely that President Trump's response was made during questions about the defense cost-sharing agreement.

If the remark was made with the defense cost-sharing agreement in mind, it appears that he pressured South Korea again to bear additional costs by stating that South Korea agreed to pay more.

On the 20th, President Trump explicitly demanded, "South Korea proposed a certain amount to us, but I rejected it," and added, "South Korea should bear a large proportion of the defense costs."

Earlier, in early August last year, even before negotiations between Korea and the U.S. for the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing began, President Trump abruptly tweeted that South Korea had agreed to pay much more, pressuring South Korea.

Meanwhile, Korea-U.S. defense cost-sharing negotiations seemed to have entered the final stage for an agreement after coordination at the working level at the end of last month, but the negotiations are stalled due to President Trump's rejection.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.