Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that South Korea contributes "very little" towards the United States' military support and should be responsible for its own defense costs. This announcement aligns with expectations that Trump might urge the Asian ally to assume a larger security responsibility.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Trump's comments were made during a Cabinet meeting, intensifying speculation that his administration may require South Korea to significantly increase its defense spending or its share of costs for stationing the 28,500-strong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Trump reflected on past defense cost-sharing negotiations with Seoul during his first term, which had strained the bilateral alliance due to his demand for a substantial increase in Seoul's financial contributions for the maintenance of USFK.
Trump recounted his previous discussions with South Korea, emphasizing that under his administration, he had secured billions of dollars from Seoul, but claimed that the Biden administration had later reduced these contributions. He alleged that South Korea had convinced Biden to lower the defense cost to "nothing," a move Trump described as "ridiculous."
The issue of defense cost-sharing, especially during the 2019 negotiations where Trump demanded a fivefold increase in Seoul's payment to $5 billion, had raised concerns about potentially undermining security cooperation between the allies amid North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats. Despite Trump's claims, South Korea has been contributing to the USFK presence since 1991 under the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which includes partial costs for Korean USFK workers and military infrastructure.
In the latest SMA signed for 2026-2030, South Korea is set to pay 1.52 trillion won ($1.11 billion) next year, an increase from this year's 1.4 trillion won. The Pentagon also recently stated that South Korea and other Asian allies are expected to follow a new "global standard" of spending 5 percent of their GDP on defense, reflecting a strategy to deter threats from China.