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| U.S. President Donald Trump waits with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during an event at the White House in Washington, U.S., Dec.13, 2019. Reuters-Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
The Korea-U.S. negotiations for determining Seoul's share of the cost of maintaining American troops here has emerged as a highly contentious issue. As seen by the series of protests in front of the U.S. Embassy in central Seoul, emotions are running high regarding Washington's mounting pressure for Seoul to pay more.
In a rare move, the U.S. Embassy recently posted the Korean translation of a joint op-ed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. The timing and content of the op-ed in the Wall Street Journal was actually very interesting.
It provided a well-structured case from the U.S. point of view on why Korea, as a global economic powerhouse, is in a position to pay more for the upkeep of the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK).
As the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) negotiations are still ongoing, such an eloquent statement from key officials in the Trump administration is timely in communicating the American and global audiences the U.S. position in requesting allies to "pay more for their own defense."
But from the Korean perspective, the op-ed does contain some problems. A foreign media outlet said that Trump's administration had "scolded" Korea in the WSJ. The title "South Korea Is an Ally, Not a Dependent" could be seen to suggest that within the current framework of cost-sharing, Seoul relegates itself to the position of a "dependent." Such a connotation is intolerable from the point of view of many Koreans who believe that Korea is already paying more than enough for the USFK. The U.S. also underlined its role in the prosperity and democracy that Korea enjoys today.
"America's longstanding commitment and presence have enabled South Korea to develop a vibrant democracy and the world's 12th-largest economy." A major problem with the op-ed is that it does not do justice to the amount that Korea is already paying for the troops, which is not by any means a small sum.
"As a global economic powerhouse and an equal partner in the preservation of peace on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea can and should contribute more to its defense. Today South Korea bears no more than one-third of the costs most directly associated with the stationing of U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula.
As these costs rise, Korea's share is shrinking. Moreover, these narrowly defined costs are only one part of the picture." However, it must be noted that even when compared with larger economies such as Germany or Japan, Korea is making a substantial contribution for the maintenance of U.S. troops.
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| U.S. Embassy website carries the Korean translation of a WSJ oped by Pompeo and Esper. Captured from US Embassy website |
The fact that the U.S. Embassy translated this op-ed and posted it on its website in Korean is seen to indicate its determination to convince the Korean public that it is really time for Koreans to pay more. That's fine. The U.S. Embassy is mostly doing its job.
But what many Koreans don't understand is what the Korean government is doing to make its case. Would it be too much to imagine a joint statement by the Korean ministers to submit an op-ed as a rebuttal in English, preferably in a global media outlet?
President Moon Jae-in has stressed the need to agree on an "equitable share" that can be approved of by the people and the National Assembly.
Even with Kang Kyung-wha, a former U.N. diplomat and one of the most internationally recognized foreign ministers in Korea's modern history, the Moon administration continues to lag behind in the media wars regarding some key diplomatic disputes.
This happened during the duel with Japan at the height of the bilateral row over wartime forced labor and trade restrictions last summer, and it is happening again.
Seoul needs a smarter media strategy regarding diplomatic issues, but neither Cheong Wa Dae nor the relevant ministries seem up to the task at this point.
