이미지 확대
When asked if Washington has any plans to withdraw or reduce its troops from Europe, Trump told journalists in the Oval Office on Wednesday, "It depends. We pay a lot for the military over in Europe. We don't get reimbursed much."
Then he abruptly brought up South Korea, saying "South Korea, too. So it will be one of the things we discuss that's unrelated to trade, but I think we will make it a part of it because it makes sense. Would be nice to wrap it all up in one package."
His comments came just a day after he said he had a "great" phone call with South Korea's Acting President Han Duck-soo, during which the two discussed Seoul's payment for Washington's "big-time" military protection, hinting at the possibility of renegotiating its defense cost-sharing deal with South Korea to hike the upkeep of maintaining some 28,500 U.S. troops here.
After multiple rounds of talks last year, Seoul and Washington already reached an agreement on an 8.3 percent increase for the upkeep of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), with Seoul shouldering 1.52 trillion won (US$1.14 billion). The agreement will be effective from 2026 through 2030, with annual adjustments based on consumer price inflation.
But the renegotiation of the deal seems likely, pressured by Trump's tariff threats. Han also expressed his willingness to "clearly" negotiate, rather than retaliate against tariffs imposed by the U.S., during his interview with the U.S. media outlet CNN earlier in the week, just a few hours before his phone conversation with Trump.
When asked whether Seoul might follow the suit of other countries like Japan or China by taking retaliatory measures against U.S. tariffs, Han was quoted as saying, "We will not take that route."
"I don't think that kind of fighting back will improve the situation dramatically," he added.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
View more comments