Trump wants South Korea to pay $10 billion a year for US protection

(Dan Tri) - Former US President Donald Trump said that if he is re-elected, South Korea will have to pay the US $10 billion/year for Washington to station troops in the country.

Former US President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP).

The US and South Korea have recently completed negotiations on a defense cost-sharing agreement called the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which runs until 2030. "If I were there, they would pay us $10 billion a year. And you know what? They would be happy to do it. It's a money machine. South Korea," former US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Economic Club of Chicago and Bloomberg News in Chicago on October 15. Trump also referred to the difficult SMA negotiations with South Korea while in office, saying he had asked South Korea to pay $5 billion a year. "We had 40,000 troops at risk, very seriously, because South Korea was facing a very powerful nuclear North Korea. I told South Korea, 'You have to pay,' and they agreed. But Biden then cut the amount down," Trump said. Since 1991, Seoul has shouldered some of the costs under the SMA for the upkeep of US military forces in South Korea, construction of military facilities and other logistical support. The US currently has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, an ally in Asia. Under the 12th SMA, which runs through 2030, South Korea agreed to pay 1.52 trillion won ($1.14 billion) in 2026, up from 1.4 trillion won in 2025. Seoul and Washington negotiated the SMA in April, earlier than usual, amid concerns that, if re-elected, Mr. Trump would negotiate a tough bargain over burden-sharing in a way that could strain the US-South Korea alliance amid growing military threats from North Korea. In fact, South Korea and the US have completed negotiations, but it is not impossible that Mr. Trump will request renegotiations if he is re-elected. During his presidential term (2017-2021), Mr. Trump, with his "America First" policy, asked South Korea to increase its financial contribution to maintain the US military presence in the country. That led to a prolonged deadlock in the SMA negotiations. Mr. Trump also repeatedly asked NATO allies to increase their contributions and share the cost burden with the US. He warned that if the allies did not do this, the US could withdraw from the alliance and Washington was ready to turn a blind eye if these countries were threatened.

According to Yonhap

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