2024-05-01 08:22:31
Trump hints at withdrawal of US troops from Korea
Pressure to increase defense cost sharing
Former U.S. President Donald Trump said, “Why do we have to defend a rich country?” and added, “I hope Korea will treat us properly.” He directly stated that if he wins the presidential election this November and returns to power, he will press for the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in Korea and demand a significant increase in defense cost sharing.
In an interview with Time magazine, an American current affairs magazine published on the 30th (local time), former President Trump was asked whether he would withdraw US troops from Korea and said, “We have 40,000 troops in a precarious position.” The 40,000 number appears to be former President Trump’s misstatement of the current number of U.S. troops stationed in Korea, which is 28,500.
In an interview, former President Trump mentioned defense spending negotiations during his term in office and said, “I had to negotiate because South Korea paid virtually nothing for 40,000 troops,” and added, “I told Korea that it was time to pay. “And they agreed to pay billions of dollars.” He continued, “But now that I’m gone, we probably won’t be paying almost anything (for defense costs),” and “It is said that through renegotiation with the Joe Biden administration, we were able to lower it even further to the previous level of paying almost nothing.”
Former President Trump raised the possibility of withdrawing U.S. troops from Korea when he was in office and demanded that the defense cost share be increased fivefold to $5 billion (about 5 trillion won). However, unlike former President Trump’s remarks in the interview, the ROK-US defense spending negotiations were concluded only after the Biden administration took office after repeated struggles. The defense cost sharing agreed upon by the Biden administration was also decided to increase by 13.9% in 2019, the first year, and then increase it in line with the rate of increase in defense spending every year until 2025.
In interviews, former President Trump repeatedly emphasized that “Korea is a rich country” and brought up the theory of free riding on security. However, he avoided a direct answer to the question of the withdrawal of US troops from Korea, saying, “They are a very wealthy country, so why wouldn’t they want to pay for it?”
Former President Trump said of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, “I got along very well” and that he was “a person with a vision.”
Washington = Correspondent Moon Byeong-ki [email protected]
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2024-05-01 08:22:31