US, South Korea At An Impasse Over Military Cost-Sharing
Trump spurned South Korea's 'best offer' before election
Jason Ditz
The United States and South Korea are at an impasse over the military cost-sharing struggle they’ve been in for months. President Trump wanted a massive increase, and South Korea has increased a few times, upping their offer 13% recently, but Trump still rejected this.
The problem was this was the “best offer” South Korea said they could make before this month’s parliamentary election. Defense Secretary Mark Esper keeps pushing South Korea to just give in to Trump’s demands, but they won’t.
The Pentagon furloughed a number of South Korean workers this month to punish the country for not coming through with the unprecedentedly large demands. South Korea was already paying more than most nations, and was willing to pay an increase until Trump suddenly demanded a many-fold increase on top of that.
The two sides are still so far apart there is no sign of any deal coming soon. To make matters tougher for the Pentagon, this was believed to be a test of Trump demanding vastly more money from other nations hosting US troops, and he’s probably going to keep pushing that.in places like Germany and Japan even if they couldn’t seal the deal in South Korea.
The problem was this was the “best offer” South Korea said they could make before this month’s parliamentary election. Defense Secretary Mark Esper keeps pushing South Korea to just give in to Trump’s demands, but they won’t.
The Pentagon furloughed a number of South Korean workers this month to punish the country for not coming through with the unprecedentedly large demands. South Korea was already paying more than most nations, and was willing to pay an increase until Trump suddenly demanded a many-fold increase on top of that.
The two sides are still so far apart there is no sign of any deal coming soon. To make matters tougher for the Pentagon, this was believed to be a test of Trump demanding vastly more money from other nations hosting US troops, and he’s probably going to keep pushing that.in places like Germany and Japan even if they couldn’t seal the deal in South Korea.
posted by Satish Sharma at
11:14
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