Seoul already paying enough for USFK

By Jun Ji-hye

Korea is already paying enough for the upkeep of 28,000 U.S. troops stationed here while also being a major buyer of American weapons, officials said Monday.

Policymakers plan to make the case that Seoul is not “free riding” on U.S. security commitments — as President Donald Trump has insisted — if Washington demands more payment.

The officials said Korea spends a large percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense-cost sharing, noting that it already allocates the largest percentage compared with Japan and Germany, also hosts to U.S. bases.

If the cost of Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA) and purchases of U.S. weapons are added, Seoul does more than enough to share the burden of the bilateral security alliance.

President Trump said in his inaugural speech that Washington has so far “subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military and defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own.”

The remark was construed as an indication that the newly inaugurated U.S. administration may demand more money during Seoul and Washington’s upcoming negotiations on defense cost-sharing.

During the presidential campaign, Trump also argued that it made no sense for the U.S. to pay to defend wealthy allies like Japan and South Korea, and should consider pulling out of these countries unless they pay more.

Korea and the United States hold negotiations on cost-sharing for the presence of American troops here every five years under the Special Measures Agreement (SMA).

In accordance with the current agreement, Seoul paid about half the cost — 944.1 billion won ($782 million) and 932 billion won in 2016 and 2015, respectively. The last SMA was made in 2014, and negotiations for 2019 through 2023 are expected to officially begin early next year.

Officials here are preparing for the possibility that the new U.S. government may begin by unofficially delivering a request for Seoul to raise its ratio of contributions from this year, once its foreign affairs and security teams are formed.

“We will actively respond to such a demand,” a government official said on condition of anonymity. “Our position is that we are already doing more than enough.”

He noted that the government is even considering disclosing how much it spends on national defense to Washington to make clear Seoul is doing its share.

According to the National Assembly Budget Office report released in 2013, the percentage of Japan’s GDP spent on defense cost sharing with the U.S. in 2012 stood at 0.064 percent, while the figure for South Korea reached 0.068 percent. Germany’s defense cost sharing burden stood at a much smaller 0.016 percent of its total economy. The report noted that the percentage of Tokyo and Berlin’s GDP spent on defense cost-sharing was smaller than that of Seoul’s, although the two nations have larger economies.

Regarding total military spending, the 2016 Defense White Paper, released by the Ministry of National Defense earlier this month, stated that Seoul allocated 2.4 percent of its GDP to national security in 2015, which is larger than the 1 percent for Japan and 1.09 percent for Germany.

Officials also said the government has annually spent about 10 billion won in operating KATUSA, a unique military program initiated during the Korean War, under which Seoul provides the U.S. military with soldiers who speak both English and Korean, allowing for greater functionality and maneuverability of American forces throughout the Korean Peninsula.

They will also use the fact that Seoul has spent enormous money in purchasing U.S. weapons to further highlight it is doing its part for the alliance.

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration Defense, the nation has spend about 3.6 trillion won from 2006 through October of last year to buy U.S.-made equipment, including Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, far outpacing what it buys from other countries.

Officials added that Korea has been indirectly supporting the presence of American soldiers as well, citing that it has offered land and personnel for free as well as the remission of various fees.