Trump suggests $10 billion price tag for US troops in South Korea

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump has reignited the debate over defense cost-sharing with South Korea, saying that if he were in the White House, Seoul would be paying US$10 billion a year to station U.S. Forces Korea, or USFK, in the country. The former U.S. president’s remarks come on the heels of a recently concluded defense deal between the two nations, set to increase South Korea’s contributions for defense cost-sharing, but far from the figure Trump insists he could achieve.

“If I were there now, they’d be paying us $10 billion a year. And you know what? They’d be happy to do it,” the former president said during an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday, calling South Korea a “money machine.” 

“We have 40,000 troops in harm’s way, very serious, because you have North Korea’s very serious power. They have tremendous nuclear power,” said Trump. “I said to South Korea, ‘You’re going to pay,’ and they agreed to do it, and Biden then cut it back. And it’s a shame.”

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