Photo : YONHAP News
American news magazine Time says former U.S. President Donald Trump has hinted at withdrawing U.S. forces stationed in South Korea if Seoul fails to pay more defense costs.
The magazine on Tuesday released an interview it conducted with Trump last month in which it asked about U.S. troop deployment in South Korea if he is re-elected president.
Saying he wants the country to treat the U.S. “properly,” Trump highlighted that America has “40-thousand troops that are in a precarious position.” The magazine was quick to point out that the actual number of stationed troops is 28-thousand-500.
Trump said he had told South Korea, which he said has become a “very wealthy country,” that it’s time that they step up and pay and claimed that the U.S. essentially paid for much of South Korea’s military, free of charge.
Time said Trump’s comments suggest that he could seek to withdraw U.S. forces in South Korea if Seoul doesn’t pay more for the upkeep of such troops.
The ex-president’s remarks come as Seoul and Washington are holding negotiations on renewing their cost-sharing deal called the Special Measures Agreement(SMA).
Since 1991, the allies have determined how to share the costs for the upkeep of U.S. troops in Korea through the SMA talks every two to five years and this is the 12th round of negotiations.
The current deal outlining Seoul’s contribution of one-point-18 trillion won, or around 850 million U.S. dollars, as well as the annual defense cost increase, is set to end at the end of 2025.