Here is an interesting read from ROK Drop favorite, Dr. Tara O about what North Korea calls their tactic to separate the ROK, US, and Japan from each other:

What else can North Korea do?  Focus on Japan.  It can try to weaken South Korea-Japan relations by using anti-Japan feelings among South Koreans, maintained by emphasizing historical animosity.  

Gat is a hat Korean men used to wear during the Chosun Dynasty.  It has a large brim with two strings that go around the sides of the face to tie in the middle to secure the hat in its place.   According to Kim Il-sung’s “Gat-Geun Tactic” (41:05), one string represents South Korea’s alliance with the U.S. and the other string represents South Korea’s relations with Japan.  By cutting off one string, the hat blows off.  Thus, by destroying South Korea’s relations with Japan, South Korea itself crumbles–and that is how Kim Il-sung describes the Gat-Geun Tactic, which is part of the Kim family regime’s anti-South Korea strategy.  

Kim Il-sung first used the term Gat-Geun Tactic in 1969, when he gave a speech at Kim Jong-il Political Military University, which trains espionage agents and operatives.  Kim Il-sung emphasized the tactic again in 1972 in his speech during the graduation ceremony at Kim Il Political University.

Hwang Jang-yop, the most senior North Korean figure to defect to South Korea, also said the North Korean regime is making full use of the Gat-Geun Tactic of weakening the South Korea-U.S. alliance and South Korea-Japan relations as part of its united front tactics.

East Asia Research Center

You can read more at the link.

You just knew someone was going to claim this at some point using anonymous sources:

The United States on Thursday denied a South Korean news report that it was considering withdrawing up to 4,000 troops from South Korea if it does not pay more for maintaining a 28,500-strong U.S. contingent deterring North Korean aggression.

South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the withdrawal of a U.S. brigade, typically 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers, had been discussed with the top brass of the U.S. military in South Korea, citing an unidentified diplomatic source in Washington.

The report came two days after the United States broke off defense cost talks after demanding that South Korea raise its annual contribution for maintaining the U.S. contingent to $5 billion, a South Korean official said, more than five times what it pays now, in rare discord in the alliance.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

Here is what General Milley recently told reporters about the US troop presence in South Korea:

 U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley has said the American public poses questions about why the United States should station troops in South Korea and Japan and why the Asian allies can’t pay for their own defense, according to a Pentagon account of his recent conversation with reporters.

Milley made the remark Sunday as he departed for the Indo-Pacific region, his first overseas trip since taking office in September.

He was emphasizing the importance of the U.S. alliances with South Korea and Japan, countries he will visit in the coming week.

“He said the average American looking at the forward deployed U.S. troops in South Korea and Japan ask some fundamental questions: Why are they needed there? How much does it cost? These are very rich and wealthy countries, why can’t they defend themselves?” the general was quoted as telling reporters traveling with him, according to the post on the Pentagon’s website.

“These are main street USA questions,” Milley added. “It is incumbent on us … to make sure we adequately explain how the U.S. military is a stabilizing force in Northeast Asia in preventing and deterring the outbreak of armed conflict.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This number is actually down sharply because this same institute had previously said China was responsible for about 70% of the pollution in South Korea. This makes me wonder if the ROK government is trying to down play China pollution in order to justify more stringent domestic anti-pollution measures?:

Around 32 percent of ultrafine dust in South Korea can be attributed to China, a piece of joint research by South Korea, China and Japan showed Wednesday, as fine dust pollution continues to be a regional environmental headache.

An average of 51.2 percent of ultrafine dust in South Korea comes from domestic factors and 32.1 percent and 2 percent, respectively, stem from China and Japan, according to a summary of the joint study released by South Korea’s National Institute of Environmental Research.

The remaining 14.7 percent were due to other factors.

The study, the first of its kind, was conducted in major cities of the three countries, including South Korea’s Seoul, Daejeon and Busan.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but what do people think the Korean reaction would be if Japan was dumping as much air pollution over the Korean peninsula that China is?

I think it is probably wise that Secretary Esper is trying to stay out of the cost sharing negotiations issue and not speculate on what if scenarios from the media:

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper refused to speculate when asked Tuesday whether the U.S. would consider reducing troops in South Korea short of a deal on defense cost-sharing.

Esper was asked the question during a briefing with reporters near Manila, the Philippines, after the U.S. walked out of defense cost-sharing negotiations with South Korea in Seoul.

The U.S. is reportedly seeking an increase of Seoul’s contribution to $5 billion from the current $870 million for this year to support the upkeep of 28,500 American troops stationed in the Asian ally.

“I’m not going to prognosticate or speculate on what we may or may not do,” Esper said when asked what steps the U.S. would take if no deal is reached before the end of the year, and whether the U.S. would consider reducing forces in the South.

“The State Department has the lead in these discussions, and I’m sure they are in capable hands. We just take this one step at a time,” Esper continued, in footage of the press conference posted on the Pentagon’s website.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is the biggest protest I have seen yet by Koreans against China despite all the provocations made by them against the ROK:

Some 30 Korean university students supporting the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement rallied against the Chinese government’s crackdown on Hong Kong protesters Tuesday in front of the Chinese Embassy in Myeong-dong, central Seoul.

A coalition of six groups composed of mostly Korean university students stood nearly 30 meters (98 feet) away from the Chinese Embassy on Tuesday morning and read out a joint statement calling on Beijing to stop its “hard-line crackdown” on “peaceful Hong Kong protesters.” 

The students also took issue with a formal statement that the Chinese Embassy released last Friday, accusing the embassy and the Chinese government of “denigrating” the Hong Kong movement by backing Chinese students in Korea who tore down pro-Hong Kong banners and posters hung by Korean students on school campuses.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the Chinese embassy literally sponsored Chinese thugs to go and beat up Koreans in Seoul back in 2008 who were protesting in support of Tibet. If that did not draw a strong backlash the fact that Chinese students are tearing down banners and roughing up Korean students won’t either.