Trump says he rejected S. Korea's defense cost-sharing proposal
Arirang News
2020-04-21
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트럼프 "방위비 관련 한국 제안 거절... 분담상태 불공평해" 방위비 협상 난항
Negotiations to hammer out defense cost-sharing between South Korea and the U.S. may drag on for a while.
U.S. President Trump has signaled that he wants South Korea to pay more than what it's already paying for U.S. military presence here while Seoul says it wants a reasonable division of payment.
Oh Jung-hee files this report from Seoul's foreign affairs ministry.
It's a bumpy road for South Korea and the U.S. ironing out a deal on how to share the costs of stationing American troops in South Korea.
In a White House news conference on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said... Seoul had suggested a payment of a certain amount, but he knocked it back.
"And so now they've offered us a certain amount of money and I've rejected it. We're doing a tremendous service. // We have to be treated equitably and fairly."
Calling South Korea "a very wealthy nation," he went on to say... that the U.S. has been protecting South Korea for decades and Seoul's payment of 1 billion dollars a year is just a portion of the entire costs.
"We're asking them to pay for a big percentage of what we're doing. It's not fair. // It's a question of will they contribute toward the defense of their own nation?"
South Korea didn't have much to say about Trump's comments, but stressed that it wants costs to be shared reasonably.
"It is our view that there should be a reasonable and fair sharing of costs, and we're continuously working on that."
From last September through this March, Seoul and Washington held 7 rounds of negotiations on a new Special Measures Agreement for this year, but have not been able to see eye-to-eye.
Without a deal, 4-thousand South Korean workers at local U.S. bases have been on unpaid leave since April 1st.
Reuters reports that the offer from South Korea that Trump rejected... was to increase its payment by 13 percent.
"Officials at Seoul's foreign ministry say... though the negotiating teams of Seoul and Washington are not able to meet face-to-face due to the coronavirus outbreak, they are communicating through various channels. But it seems it will take some time for them to reach a deal, as the two sides have not even agreed on holding the next round of talks. Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News."
Negotiations to hammer out defense cost-sharing between South Korea and the U.S. may drag on for a while.
U.S. President Trump has signaled that he wants South Korea to pay more than what it's already paying for U.S. military presence here while Seoul says it wants a reasonable division of payment.
Oh Jung-hee files this report from Seoul's foreign affairs ministry.
It's a bumpy road for South Korea and the U.S. ironing out a deal on how to share the costs of stationing American troops in South Korea.
In a White House news conference on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said... Seoul had suggested a payment of a certain amount, but he knocked it back.
"And so now they've offered us a certain amount of money and I've rejected it. We're doing a tremendous service. // We have to be treated equitably and fairly."
Calling South Korea "a very wealthy nation," he went on to say... that the U.S. has been protecting South Korea for decades and Seoul's payment of 1 billion dollars a year is just a portion of the entire costs.
"We're asking them to pay for a big percentage of what we're doing. It's not fair. // It's a question of will they contribute toward the defense of their own nation?"
South Korea didn't have much to say about Trump's comments, but stressed that it wants costs to be shared reasonably.
"It is our view that there should be a reasonable and fair sharing of costs, and we're continuously working on that."
From last September through this March, Seoul and Washington held 7 rounds of negotiations on a new Special Measures Agreement for this year, but have not been able to see eye-to-eye.
Without a deal, 4-thousand South Korean workers at local U.S. bases have been on unpaid leave since April 1st.
Reuters reports that the offer from South Korea that Trump rejected... was to increase its payment by 13 percent.
"Officials at Seoul's foreign ministry say... though the negotiating teams of Seoul and Washington are not able to meet face-to-face due to the coronavirus outbreak, they are communicating through various channels. But it seems it will take some time for them to reach a deal, as the two sides have not even agreed on holding the next round of talks. Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News."
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