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EDUS asking too much

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Trump needs to value alliance more than cost-sharing

It is irrational for the United States to ask South Korea to pay an annual $1.2 billion (1.35 trillion won) for the upkeep of American troops stationed here this year. This sum is about 40 percent more than the 960.2 billion won ($851 million) paid last year. According to government sources, Washington has set the bottom line at $1 billion after the two sides failed to agree on how much more Korea should shoulder during their 10th round of talks held in Seoul last month.

More worrisome is that the Trump administration has continued to apply stronger pressure on the government to pay more for the presence of the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Amid the stalled cost-sharing talks, U.S. Ambassador to Korea Harry Harris visited Cheong Wa Dae in December to discuss the issue with Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office (NSO).

Harris notified Chung of the U.S. demand for the steep increase, urging Seoul to pay $1.2 billion for the stationing of the American troops. He also reportedly told him the minimum amount would be $1 billion. But Chung turned down the request, making clear that the government cannot pay more than 1 trillion won ($886 million). Local media reported that the U.S. envoy described the offer as a final one, meaning he gave an ultimatum to the Korean side.

The demand came suddenly. During the previous rounds of the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) talks, the U.S. side had not put forth such a steep increase. Sources said the sudden move reflected the orders of the top U.S. leadership. In other words, President Donald Trump has virtually instructed his negotiators to get Seoul to shoulder a far greater share of the defense costs. It is not strange for Trump to make such a demand, given that he has often described South Korea unfairly as a "free rider" in the bilateral defense alliance.

The fact is that South Korea currently pays 42 percent of the total costs for the maintenance of the USFK. If the free use of land for U.S. bases here is included, Korea's share increases to as high as 80 percent. Besides, the Seoul government spent $13 billion on the expansion of Pyeongtaek's Camp Humphreys, the largest overseas U.S. military base, for the relocation of American troops stationed in Seoul and border areas.

Taken overall, the U.S. demand is too excessive. More serious is that the Trump administration is trying to use the South Korea-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty as leverage to force its ally to shoulder well over half the total costs. This arrogant U.S. attitude was evident in Harris' reported remarks to Chung. The ambassador, who once served as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Washington may consider implementing the treaty in a different way.

We have to question what Harris really meant. His words might sound like blackmail or a threat to scrap the mutual defense pact unless Seoul accepts the U.S. demand. They also seem to go way far beyond Trump's "America first" policy. We urge Washington to drop its undue demand and see the value in the traditional alliance, instead of putting a heavier burden on Seoul.





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