Does Trump Also Charge for Strategic Assets Costs? [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

Trump in Time Interview: "Why Defend Korea?"
Possibility of Demanding Strategic Asset Costs Following Defense Cost-Sharing Fee

There are concerns that if a 'second Trump administration' materializes in the upcoming U.S. presidential election this November, it may demand costs related to the deployment of strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula. It is speculated that, following defense cost-sharing fees, a bill could also be presented.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Former President Trump recently stated in an interview with the American news magazine Time, "We have 40,000 troops (actually 28,500) in a precarious position, and that makes no sense. Why are we defending others? We are talking about a very wealthy country (Korea) right now."

South Korea and the U.S. are currently negotiating defense cost-sharing fees, but if a second Trump administration takes office, the U.S. side could overturn the negotiation terms. In fact, during his first term in 2019, former President Trump pressured South Korea to increase its contribution by demanding nearly six times the previous year's defense cost-sharing amount.

Furthermore, the U.S. side could include strategic assets in the billing. The U.S. military's strategic weapons deployed to the Korean Peninsula include nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, as well as B-1B (Lancer) strategic bombers, B-2 (Spirit) stealth bombers, and F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters. Among strategic weapons, the asset with the highest maintenance cost is the aircraft carrier. The annual maintenance cost of the USS Ronald Reagan, part of the U.S. 7th Fleet rotating deployment to the Korean Peninsula, exceeds 400 billion KRW. Aircraft carriers typically operate as part of a carrier strike group. When accompanied by four Aegis destroyers, two nuclear submarines, and cruisers, the value easily exceeds 20 trillion KRW.

Strategic bombers are also costly. A single sortie of a B-2 bomber over the Korean Peninsula costs about 6 billion KRW. When a B-1B bomber is deployed to the Korean Peninsula, aerial refueling tankers and escort fighters must also be deployed, so experts estimate that the unit cost for these forces per sortie is about 2 to 3 billion KRW. If B-2 and B-1B bombers are deployed simultaneously, the cost per sortie amounts to approximately 8 to 9 billion KRW. The F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters are estimated to cost about 100 to 200 million KRW per single deployment to the Korean Peninsula.

A government official said, "If President Trump returns to power, there is a possibility that the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises will be viewed from an economic perspective, and additional cost burdens may be demanded."

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