Trump says S. Korea should pay for its own defense
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, July 8, in Washington. AP-Yonhap
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that South Korea pays the United States "very little" for America's military support and should pay for its own defense, amid expectations that he would demand the Asian ally shoulder a greater security burden.
Trump made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting, reinforcing speculation that his administration might demand that Seoul sharply increase its spending on national defense or its share of the cost for stationing the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).
"We rebuilt South Korea. We stayed there. It's okay. We rebuilt it," Trump said. "And we stayed there, and they pay us very little for the military."
He cast South Korea as "making a lot of money" — a remark that further raised pressure on Seoul to jack up its defense spending.
"We supply the militaries to many ... very successful country. I mean, South Korea is making a lot of money and they are very good," he said. "But you know, they should be paying for their military."
Trump recalled defense cost-sharing talks with Seoul during his first term — a negotiation that caused worrisome friction in the bilateral alliance due to his call for a hefty rise in Seoul's financial contributions for the upkeep of USFK.
"I got them to pay billions of dollars, and Biden then canceled it when he came in. I said for South Korea as an example, you know, we give you free military, essentially very little, and I think you should pay us $10 billion a year," he said.
"And they went crazy, but they agreed to three. So I got three with a phone call. I was satisfied. I said, but next year we have to talk. And then we had a rigged election, and we never got to talk."
He speculated that Biden was talked by South Korea into reducing the defense cost "to nothing."
"They probably went to him and they said, 'Listen, Trump treated us terribly, and we shouldn't be paying anything.' And he cut it down to nothing," Trump said. "That's what happens. It's ridiculous."
During the defense cost negotiations in 2019, Trump is known to have demanded a fivefold increase in Seoul's payment for USFK to $5 billion, triggering concerns that the issue could undermine security cooperation between the allies at a time of North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump said that South Korea would be paying $10 billion a year for stationing USFK if he were in the White House. He also called the Asian ally a "money machine."
During the Cabinet meeting, he falsely claimed that there are 45,000 U.S. soldiers in Korea, saying that USFK personnel and other American troops in Germany help the countries' economies.
"You know, that's a huge economic development for them. That's a tremendous amount. That's like having a city," he said. "It's tremendous money for them, and it's a tremendous loss for us. In a very nice way, we are talking to them about it."
Trump's remarks came despite Korea's longtime contributions for the USFK presence since 1991. Under a defense cost-sharing deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), Seoul has partially shared costs for Korean USFK workers, the construction of military facilities and other logistical support.
Last year, Seoul and Washington signed the latest SMA for the 2026-2030 period, under which Korea is to pay 1.52 trillion won ($1.11 billion) next year, up from 1.4 trillion won this year.
Aside from the USFK cost, the Pentagon said recently that South Korea and other Asian allies are subject to the new "global standard" of spending 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense, as it prioritizes deterring the "pacing threat" from an increasingly assertive China.