Trump Calls for South Korea to Pay More for Their Defense
The rhetoric from President Trump has shifted from NATO to now South Korea in effort to get them to increase defense spending:
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.
You can read more at the link, but the ROK government had to know this was coming considering President Trump’s past rhetoric demanding the ROK to pay more for the upkeep of USFK. We should soon see how they respond to the demand from Trump.
