Pressure on Defense Cost Sharing...
"South Korea Should Pay 10 Billion Dollars a Year"
On July 8 (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump referred to South Korea as a wealthy country and stated, "South Korea should pay for its own defense costs." He also announced plans to soon unveil tariffs on semiconductors, which are one of South Korea's main export items. He specified that the tariff rate on copper imported into the United States would be 50%.
During a Cabinet meeting held at the White House that day, President Trump mentioned the presence of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and said, "South Korea is paying too little to the United States (for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea)."
This appears to be pressure for South Korea to further increase its share of the costs for stationing U.S. troops. In addition, as the two countries are in the final stages of trade negotiations with reciprocal tariffs postponed until the first of next month, this move is interpreted as an attempt to strengthen the U.S. negotiating position.
President Trump made these remarks while discussing tariffs. He said, "Almost every country has imposed tariffs on us. For decades, we have recorded deficits in trade with every country, and we have been regarded as a big model for making bad deals with every country." He continued, "We rebuilt South Korea. We stayed there (with U.S. troops). They paid a very small amount for military expenses (the cost of stationing U.S. Forces Korea)." He criticized, "I made them (South Korea) pay billions of dollars, but former President Joe Biden canceled that when he took office."
This appears to refer to the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations on the cost-sharing for U.S. Forces Korea, which were stalled for a long time during Trump's first term and were only concluded in March 2021, shortly after former President Biden took office.
President Trump said, "I told South Korea, 'We think you should pay $10 billion a year.' They were in an uproar, but they agreed to a $3 billion increase. So, with just one phone call, I made $3 billion, and I was satisfied." He added, "I also told them, 'But next year (2020), we have to negotiate again.' Then there was the fraudulent election (the 2020 U.S. presidential election), and we couldn't negotiate again." He argued, "Maybe they told former President Biden, 'President Trump treated us terribly and we shouldn't pay anything.' So he (Biden) reduced it to nothing."
However, President Trump's remarks on this day appear to be somewhat exaggerated. In 2019, the Trump administration actually demanded a $5 billion increase from South Korea, not $10 billion, and even the $5 billion demand was more than five times the amount South Korea paid in 2019 (1.0389 trillion won), which was already a significant sum. During last year's presidential campaign, President Trump repeatedly referred to South Korea as a "Money Machine" and insisted that South Korea should pay $10 billion for defense cost-sharing.
In addition, President Trump incorrectly stated the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as 45,000. The actual number is currently about 28,000. President Trump also mentioned the number of U.S. troops stationed in Germany as "45,000, or actually 52,000," and said, "That is a tremendous economic development and money for them. It's like having an entire city. For us, it's a tremendous loss." He continued, "So we are talking to them very kindly and discussing this issue with them. It is very unfair." He emphasized, "We supply weapons to the militaries of many successful countries. South Korea is making a lot of money, and they are doing very well. But they should pay for their own defense costs."
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