①Trump said on Tuesday that if he takes office in the White House, South Korea will pay billions more to the U.S. military each year; ②he also described the United States' traditional ally in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, as a "money-making machine".
Financial Associated Press, October 16th (Editor Xiao Xiang) former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Trump, in an interview on Tuesday local time, talked about many hot topics such as tariffs, the Federal Reserve, and deficits. Among them, the current tense situation on the Korean Peninsula was also in Trump's sights, but what Trump seems to care most about is simply "money" (military expenses)...
Trump said on Tuesday that if he takes office in the White House, South Korea will pay billions more for the stationed U.S. military in South Korea. He also described the United States' traditional ally in the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea, as a "money-making machine".
"If I were there now (in the White House), they would pay us 10 billion dollars each year, you know, they would be very willing to do so. South Korea is a money machine," Trump said in an interview at the Chicago Economic Club that day.
It is worth mentioning that Trump made these remarks just earlier this month, less than two weeks after the U.S. and South Korea reached a new five-year cost-sharing agreement for U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula.
On October 4th, after a half-year-long tug-of-war, South Korea and the United States finally finalized the 12th 'Special Agreement on Defense Cost Sharing'. The agreement is valid from 2026 to 2030. According to the new agreement, in 2026, South Korea's defense expenditure is 1.5192 trillion Korean won (approximately 1.134 billion U.S. dollars), an 8.3% increase from 2025. The two sides also agreed that from 2026 to 2030, when adjusting the amount of South Korea's share annually, they will refer to the increase in the Consumer Price Index, with an annual increase capped at 5%.
In comparison, Trump's latest demand is nearly 9 times the amount of the aforementioned Special Defense Cost Sharing Agreement (1.134 billion U.S. dollars).
It is worth mentioning that when Trump took office in 2016, there was a dispute between South Korea and the U.S. over the cost-sharing issue of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. At that time, Trump demanded that South Korea contribute about 5 billion U.S. dollars annually to maintain approximately 28,000 U.S. troops in the region, far higher than the approximately 1 billion U.S. dollars per year that South Korea had agreed to pay under the previous agreement.
According to a multi-year agreement reached before the Trump administration took office in 2014, South Korea paid about 960 billion South Korean won in 2018.
Currently, some American voters have started mailing in their ballots and voting early. Polls show that with only the final three weeks left before the election, Trump's and Democratic candidate Harris' support rates remain neck and neck.
In terms of military and foreign policy, it is widely believed that if Harris wins, the United States' current security policy direction will largely be maintained, while Trump has repeatedly criticized the inadequate defense spending by America's allies.
On Tuesday, Trump also stated, 'North Korea is a very powerful country, they have a strong nuclear capability. I have told South Korea that you must pay the price.'
Editor/ping
