Category: US-ROK Alliance

This is why the ROK wants to conclude cost sharing negotiations before any potential Trump presidency:

Former President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States could pull out its troops stationed in South Korea if the Asian ally does not make more financial contributions to support them, U.S. magazine TIME reported Tuesday.

TIME’s release of its interview with Trump came as Seoul and Washington recently launched new negotiations over South Korea’s share of the cost for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) under a deal, called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA). 

“We have 40,000 troops that are in a precarious position,” he was quoted by TIME as saying. “Which doesn’t make any sense. Why would we defend somebody? And we’re talking about a very wealthy country.”

He was apparently referring to the 28,500 USFK service members. 

Based on the remarks, TIME said in an article that Trump “suggests” the U.S. could withdraw its forces “if South Korea doesn’t pay more to support U.S. troops there to deter (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un’s increasingly belligerent regime to the north.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if this becomes a major campaign issue or not this year.

The ROK government has been wanting to get a new US-ROK cost sharing agreement in place before the U.S. presidential election. This is because they know the potential acrimony that could happen if Donald Trump is elected President and they have to negotiate a new agreement with his administration:

This photo, captured from the State Department’s website, shows Linda Specht, a senior adviser and lead negotiator for security agreements at the department.

South Korea and the United States outlined their respective visions for a new bilateral defense cost-sharing deal during their first round of negotiations in Honolulu this week, the top U.S. negotiator said Friday.

Linda Specht, senior advisor and U.S. lead negotiator for security agreements at the State Department, made the remarks after the initial round of talks over the deal, named the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) took place from Tuesday through Thursday.

The talks are aimed at determining how much Seoul should pay for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea. The current six-year SMA is set to end at the end of next year.

“The United States and Republic of Korea outlined their respective visions for the 12th SMA,” she said in a statement. She did not elaborate on the visions.

“Our commitment to reinforcing the readiness of our combined defense posture underlines the enduring vitality of the U.S.-ROK alliance. We will continue to consult whenever necessary to further strengthen and sustain the Alliance under the 12th SMA,” she added.

Shortly before the talks, Specht said that the U.S. seeks a “fair” and “equitable” outcome in the SMA talks.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Good luck with enforcing sanctions on North Korea as long as they share land borders with China and Russia who will continue to enable them:

South Korea and the United States have launched a task force to effectively block North Korea from financing its unlawful nuclear and missile programs, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

The inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. bilateral Enhanced Disruption Task Force was held at Washington, D.C., on Tuesday (local time) with over 30 officials in areas of diplomacy, intelligence, sanctions and maritime interdiction, according to the ministry.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to counter illicit efforts by North Korea to circumvent sanctions concerning the procurement of refined petroleum, stressing that importing refined oil in excess of the U.N.-mandated cap violates U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

They also highlighted the need for close cooperation to counter the North’s ability to procure petroleum, including from Russia, saying it directly contributes to the reclusive country’s military readiness and its weapons development.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Another March is coming up which means another major US-ROK military exercise:

Col. Lee Sung-jun, left, the spokesperson for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, bumps fists with his U.S. counterpart Col. Isaac Taylor, the U.S. Forces Korea spokesperson, during a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

South Korea and the United States will conduct their annual Freedom Shield exercise from March 4 to 14 to strengthen their combined defensive posture against North Korea’s escalating threats, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, Wednesday.

During a press briefing, the JCS said the 11-day non-stop exercise will be “a realistic exercise to strengthen the allies’ combined defense capabilities based on scenarios reflecting diverse security threats and lessons learned from recent wars.”

“It will be focusing on conducting multi-domain operations, using land, sea, air, cyber and space assets as well as countering North Korea’s nuclear operations,” the JCS said.

Freedom Shield is a large-scale combined military exercise between the allies held annually in March. In August, the allies also conduct the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which is held jointly with the South Korean government’s interagency training called Ulchi Exercise.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but expect North Korea to conduct their own provocations in response to the Freedom Shield exercise.

Just another sign of how far the ROK’s defense industry has come that now even the U.S. is interested in procurement:

The U.S. Defense Department has started a process to solicit industry feedback on its pursuit of a defense procurement agreement with South Korea to allow easier access to each other’s market amid growing security uncertainties from North Korean threats and other challenges.

Last week, the department posted a notice in the Federal Register to request public comments on the pursuit of a new Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) Agreement with South Korea through March 25.

Seoul and Washington have been seeking to sign the agreement as President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden committed to strengthening partnerships in defense-sector supply chains and beginning talks on the agreement during their summit in April last year.

“The purpose of an RDP Agreement is to promote rationalization, standardization, interchangeability and interoperability of conventional defense equipment with allies and other friendly governments,” the department said in the notice.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is probably a smart move by the ROK to complete cost sharing negotations before any potential of Donald Trump being elected President. During his prior presidency he put enormous pressure on the ROK to pay more for the upkeep of USFK:

Korea and the United States have agreed to begin talks on their next deal on defense cost sharing earlier than planned, sources said, Jan. 16. Yonhap

Korea and the United States have agreed to begin talks on their next deal on defense cost sharing earlier than planned, sources said Tuesday, a move that appears to consider the possible reelection of former U.S. President Donald Trump, known for his tough bargaining on such deals.

The allies have reached an understanding to start the negotiations on sharing the costs for the upkeep of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), this year, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the matter.

The early talks, if launched, will come nearly two years ahead of the original schedule for the deal, known as the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), currently in effect until the end of 2025 under a six-year term.

Seoul and Washington signed the SMA for 2020-26 in April 2021 after 1 1/2 years of tough haggling over how much Seoul should pay for the stationing of the USFK on its soil, as the then Trump administration had called for a sharp increase in Seoul’s share.

The early launch of the defense cost-sharing talks appear to have taken into account the possibility of Trump returning to the White House if he wins the November presidential vote.

During his term in office, Trump accused the allies of relying on the U.S. for their defense and called them “free riders” who “rip off” America. Some media had reported that Trump demanded Seoul pay $5 billion for its share, more than a fivefold increase from 2019.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.