The tens of 1000’s of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea and Japan seem set to be a part of President Donald Trump’s tariff negotiations, regardless of efforts by each international locations to separate safety talks from commerce.
In posts on the Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump mentioned defence cost-sharing could be a part of “one-stop shopping” negotiations with Seoul, and raised the problem of the defence burden throughout a go to by Japanese officers to Washington this week.
Japan hosts about 50,000 U.S. troops and South Korea 28,500. Both nations depend on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for defense towards China, Russia and North Korea, and are seen as essential for the U.S. army’s potential to undertaking energy and affect across the area.
Mr. Trump has beforehand urged he might withdraw the U.S. forces if the international locations do not pay up, and through his first time period, demanded billions of {dollars} extra.
On Wednesday, South Korea’s first vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun informed parliament that whereas Washington had not formally proposed renegotiating their Special Measures Agreement (SMA) underneath which South Korea helps U.S. troops stationed there, Seoul is making ready for numerous eventualities.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok mentioned this week that value sharing will not be up for overview.
Tokyo views the problem of defence spending as separate from tariffs, a Japanese authorities official informed Reuters. “These originally are separate issues,” the official mentioned, suggesting defence costs shouldn’t be a part of the tariff negotiations.
The Pentagon and the State Department referred inquiries to the White House, which didn’t reply.
Reopening defence talks is a “deliberate pressure tactic” by Mr. Trump, mentioned Danny Russel on the Asia Society Policy Institute.
“Trump has made clear he sees alliance relationships as transactional and is determined to extract an economic payoff commensurate with the value of the U.S. defence umbrella,” he mentioned.
Shortly earlier than final yr’s U.S. election, South Korea and the outgoing administration of then-U.S. President Joe Biden hurried to signal a brand new, five-year SMA underneath which Seoul would increase its contribution towards the maintenance of U.S. troops in the nation by 8.3% to $1.47 billion in the primary yr, with later will increase linked to the patron worth index.
That gamble seems to have failed, nevertheless, mentioned one South Korean safety official who spoke on situation of anonymity since they weren’t authorised to debate the problem.
KEY U.S. ALLIES
The official mentioned it was the Mr. Biden crew that pushed for the early negotiation, and that it sparked a debate inside the South Korean authorities, which in the end determined it risked alienating Washington if it refused.
“Now, if we have to negotiate, we are doing it from a higher amount than if we had waited,” the official mentioned, however added that the present South Korean management is true to say that cost-sharing will not be up for overview.
South Korea has a caretaker authorities after Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached and faraway from the presidency this month following a short try to impose martial regulation in December. A brand new presidential election might be held on June 3.
Japan has the largest abroad deployment of U.S. troops globally, squadrons of fighter jets and Washington’s solely forward-deployed plane provider strike group
Under an settlement negotiated in 2022 and set to run out in March 2027, the typical annual value Japan bears in the direction of the maintenance of U.S. troops quantities to round 211 billion yen ($1.48 billion), in accordance with Japan’s Foreign Ministry.
The U.S. troops in South Korea, alongside with warplanes and armoured preventing automobiles, are there as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
“Seoul renegotiated the SMA a year early in order to lock in more beneficial terms prior to Trump’s re-election,” mentioned Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst now with the U.S.-based Heritage Center.
“Having the defence agreement re-opened and linked to broader economic and trade issues will exacerbate South Korean concerns of the economic concessions it may need to make as well as the continued viability of the U.S. defence commitment.”
Questions over the flexibility, or willingness, of the United States to guard South Korea from nuclear-armed North Korea has sparked new requires Seoul to arrange to develop its personal nuclear weapons.
Analysts mentioned talks with the Trump administration are additional difficult by disputes over info.
Mr. Klingner mentioned that simply as Mr. Trump misquoted South Korea’s efficient tariff fee in his speech to Congress, his social media put up erroneously claimed that the cost-sharing funds had begun underneath his first time period and had been terminated by Biden.
The SMAs started in 1991 and the one signed final yr was the twelfth such settlement between the United States and South Korea.
In testimony to the U.S. Congress final week, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea in addition to the final in cost of all U.S. troops in the Indo-Pacific area praised South Korea’s contributions to defence budgets, and its giant purchases of American weapons and warplanes.
“These strategic investments underscore the enduring partnership between our two nations,” mentioned General Xavier Brunson, commander of USFK.
Published – April 17, 2025 03:12 pm IST
