Syria pullout decision fuels concerns over defense cost-sharing talks

U.S. President Donald Trump last week ordered U.S. forces to withdraw from Syria. / AP-Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

U.S. President Donald Trump's order to pull out American troops from Syria is fueling speculation the Trump administration will increase pressure on South Korea to spend more money on the upkeep of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).

Trump's Syria withdrawal decision tests his “America First” foreign policy aimed at reducing the U.S. financial burden on global defense and letting its allies shoulder more responsibility, according to analysts, Sunday.

They said Trump's test would be expanded to other regions, including South Korea, which has been making little headway with the U.S. in negotiations over the cost of the USFK.

Trump has accused South Korea of “free riding” on U.S. defense and branded Korea's payment of $830 million a year to the U.S. to offset the cost of 28,500 American troops as “peanuts.”

In negotiations about the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), a five-year defense contract set to end on Dec. 31, the Trump administration reportedly has wanted Seoul to pay 150 percent of the current deal, or about $1.2 billion.

“Given the climate, the Syria pullout suggests the Trump administration will not simply give up its demand for South Korea to bear a substantial amount for defense cost-sharing,” said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University.

The amendment ― passed by the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services ― calls for USFK troop numbers to be kept at a minimum of 22,000. The move appears to address concerns among mainstream Washington politicians about a possible pullout of U.S. forces amid the inter-Korean reconciliatory mood.

“But even if he can't take the American soldiers back home, Trump can seek other ways to press South Korea, such as asking it to pay extra money whenever U.S. strategic assets such as B-2 bombers are deployed to South Korean soil,” Park said.

The experts also said U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis' resignation in protest of Trump's Syria pullout order would make negotiations tougher for South Korea.

Mattis was one of the few national security advisers who appeared able to convince the real estate mogul-turned-president to embrace the importance of long-term security interests over short-term economic interests.

However, failure of the defense cost-sharing talks will not result in withdrawal of the USFK, according to analysts, referring to the amendment of the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act approved in May.

But Kim Hyun-wook, a professor at Korea National Diplomatic Academy, said there would be “no brakes on Trump's short-sighted, inexperienced foreign policy any longer” after Mattis' resignation.

“Mattis understood the strategic importance of stationing U.S. forces across the globe and his departure means Washington will focus more on financial interests when it comes to its alliance with Seoul,” he said.