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WP: Trump's dual Korean challenges: Talks with North and U.S. troop payment impasse with South
WP: Trump’s dual Korean challenges: Talks with North and U.S. troop payment impasse with South
By Simon Denyer January 20
“I don’t think they will ever ask the U.S. to withdraw,” said Chun, the conservative former national security adviser, referring to officials in Moon’s entourage. “But if President Trump decides to withdraw because of this cost issue, I don’t think any of them will cry over that kind of decision.”
The question of the share South Korea is paying depends on your vantage point.
The United States says Seoul pays $855 million out of a total cost of about $2 billion. South Korea says that doesn’t account for the large amount of land supplied rent-free and calculates it pays more like 70 percent of the cost.
Seoul also paid almost the entire cost of building a massive new U.S. base at Pyeongtaek and spent $13 billion between 2013 and 2017 on U.S. military hardware, training and services.
The question of the share South Korea is paying depends on your vantage point.
The United States says Seoul pays $855 million out of a total cost of about $2 billion. South Korea says that doesn’t account for the large amount of land supplied rent-free and calculates it pays more like 70 percent of the cost.
Seoul also paid almost the entire cost of building a massive new U.S. base at Pyeongtaek and spent $13 billion between 2013 and 2017 on U.S. military hardware, training and services.
more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/trumps-dual-korean-challenges-talks-with-north-and-us-troop-payment-impasse-with-south/2019/01/19/dd9a875e-18d5-11e9-b8e6-567190c2fd08_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.62cf1033cfc8
According to one South Korean Channel A News broadcast today this impasse between the ROK and the US offers the spectre of a potential impetuous action of Trump using US troop withdrawal as a "card" at a summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. This unsettling prospect is being used as a means to put pressure on South Korea to come up with more than one trillion won annual expenditure in support of US troops and operations. That outcome isn't likely. One of the analysts said the Trump tactic appeared to be like grabbing two rabbits at one time.
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