Trump wants South Korea to pay more for US soldiers on their land

Sharing the costs of organizing American soldiers in allied countries was the favorite topic of US President Donald Trump from the first term in the White House.

But when more countries are trying to conclude a contract to escape from the spectrum of tariffs in the second term, Trump makes its own moves: a combination of negotiations on trade, tariffs and sharing defense costs into one comprehensive agreement, which he called “comprehensive purchases”.

One of such countries at the sight of it is South Korea, in which there are about 28,500 American soldiers known as the US Korea. On April 8, Trump He wrote about social truth that he discussed “payment for great military protection, which we provide South Korea”, among others, with the then president Han Duck-Soo.

“We recall other topics that are not covered by trade and tariffs, as well as negotiating them.” One Stop -rupping “is a beautiful and efficient process !!!” Trump wrote.

One sec South Korean officials Apparently he said that the defense payments are outside the tabletwo leading candidates for the president of the country, Lee Jae-Myung AND Kim.I suggested that they were open to discussing a contract division agreement in defense.

However, the analysts said CNBC that the transaction approach would not necessarily work in favor of the USA.

At a security conference in Munich in February, The then defense minister Singapore Eng Hen He said: “It was said that trade and security were two sides of the same coin, and one assumes that as changes in commercial dependencies, safety alliances would be as follows.”

But the image of the USA in Asia, NG said, “changed from the liberator to a great disruption to the owner looking for rent.”

Bruce Bennett, professor of politics analysis at Rand School of Policy Policy, said the US president.

“He operates in this way,” said Bennett. “So it's not like he wants to bring soldiers home, but it is a matter of wanting to recognize and accept responsibility from our alliesIN“He added.

It was a position that told us, Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, who – he said in an interview at 2024 The fact that the US forces of Korea should be browsed as “more important” to deal with China, unlike North Korea.

Bennett said that one of the ways in which South Korea can “pay more” is to invest in its strength and buy more US military equipment.

He added that this would allow the military from South Korea to connect all gaps in terms of ability, enabling Korea to focus more on China.

“(If) the Korean government claims that the volunteer is … raising our budget by 3 or $ 4 billion, we will use it to buy equipment so that the US can concentrate, I think that it would significantly achieve the interests of the president.”

South Korea spent 2.6% of its GDP on defense in 2024, more than a global average of 2.5% and one of the highest in the world, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

In 2025, the country is assigned 61.25 trillions of South Korea winning ($ 43.83 billion) for defense or an increase of 3.1% compared to the previous year.

However, this transaction approach will hurt American credibility, said Hoshik Nam, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Sociology and Political Sciences at Jacksonville State University.

He added to us that the use of American forces as a leverage in commercial negotiations can lead close allies to perceive American obligations as less reliable.

“In the long run, this position can change the US as an isolated superpower.”

South Korea was not obliged to make any financial contribution in the original agreement with the USA in the USA stationed in the country, known as Status status agreement.

Sharing costs became a feature of the alliance in 1991, when Seul He agreed to share Some of the weights stationed American soldiers in three areas, namely logistics, local labor and military construction.

He explained to us that the rapid economic growth of South Korea from the 1960s created conditions for the distribution of costs.

“Both countries also agreed that their relationship should go beyond the simple dynamics of the helper and the recipient,” he said.

Funds provided by the South Korean government also created local jobs and helped local industries, told us.

“As for construction, most projects are conducted by Korean construction companies. When it comes to logistics, equipment, services and facilities are provided by Korean companies,” he emphasized to us.

In October 2024, Seul agreed lift For the organization of American soldiers by 8.3% in 2026 to 1.52 trillion wins ($ 1.13 billion).

However, Trump's “One Stop-Shopping” attitude in order to pack trade with defense agreements may cause the latest agreement on the distribution of costs by Biden administration, taking into account that Contract 2024 Covers the period 2026-2030.