Trump signals tough defense cost-sharing demand for allies: Yonhap

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 21, 2017, 12:25 Updated : January 21, 2017, 12:25

[Aju News DB]


US President Donald Trump's inaugural address appears to show he remains highly critical of the country spending money to fulfill its security commitments overseas, and could demand allies pay significantly more for an American troop presence.

In his first speech as president, Trump repeatedly promised to put "America First" in every decision, saying that the US has so far "subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military" and "defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own."

The remark is similar to his campaign rhetoric that the US can no longer afford to be the policeman of the world and it makes no sense for the US to help defend such wealthy allies as Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia in exchange for little.

During the campaign, Trump even suggested ending protection of allies unless they pay more.

Since the election, however, Trump has significantly toned down the campaign rhetoric, making no mention of alliances and filled some key posts with people valuing the alliances, such as incoming Defense Secretary James Mattis.

On Friday, Trump also pledged to "reinforce all the alliances." Still, that doesn't mean the new US government will go easy on defense cost-sharing.

"Trump's inaugural also contained all the contradictory strains of his campaign —- reinforcing alliances, yet critical of subsidized armies," Robert Manning, a senior analyst at the Atlantic Council think tank, told Yonhap News Agency.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean aggression, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Seoul pays about half the costs, about 900 million US dollars a year, to help finance the troop presence.

Many agree that the troop presence is also in line with US interests in a region marked by China's rise. US officials, including new U.S. Forces Korea Commander Vincent Brooks, said it would cost more to keep those troops stationed in the US than it does in Korea.

(Yonhap)
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