US demands 50% increase in S. Korea's defense contribution

[soryang]

6. The US method of calculating the S.Korean contribution is misleading and self serving

Even conservative military experts have criticized the Trump approach to the negotiations.

South Koreans point out the US demands do not include financial burdens South Korea maintains unilaterally to support US Forces Korea. Among those are the provision of bases cost free, and the construction of the largest US base outside the US at Pyongtaek, Camp Humphreys, at a cost of $9.8 billion US to South Korea.

Additionally, South Korea provides troops trained in US language and customs to assist and facilitate US military missions in South Korea. (KATUSA: Korea augmentees to the US Army.) The US calculations also ignore the substantial purchases by South Korea of advanced weaponry from the US every year, and the substantial amount of its own GDP that South Korea commits to national defense each year, the highest among US allies. South Korea has purchased 14 billion in US weapons systems in recent years.

The exorbitant US demands are an disingenuous attempt to force South Korea to undertake additional costs of the so-called Indo-Pacific alliance aimed against China of which it is not a part. The Trump administration hopes to set a precedent with South Korea by forcing them to absorb a massively increased "share" of alliance costs which will then serve as an example to extract additional increased contributions from Japan and NATO allies.