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President Donald Trump speaks during the 2019 House Republican Conference Member Retreat Dinner in Baltimore

Amid continuing pressure from US President Donald Trump for American allies to pay more for US troops stationed within their borders, South Korea and the US are slated to begin their defense cost-sharing negotiations this month. The two countries will be renegotiating their Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which will define South Korea’s financial contribution to US Forces Korea (USFK) starting next year.

South Korea and the US have reportedly agreed to initiate negotiations for the 11th SMA at the beginning of September and are currently making the final adjustments on the exact schedule of those negotiations. “We’re making preparations to start the negotiations before the end of this month. The top negotiators and the dates will be announced soon,” said an official from South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sources say that the South Korean government is strongly considering appointing someone who is not from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lead its negotiating team — perhaps a former high-ranking official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Seoul is facing increasing pressure from Trump, who hopes to unveil bigger defense contributions from American allies as one of his signature foreign policy accomplishments during next year’s presidential campaign.

“We defend countries that are immensely wealthy and [. . .] they don’t pay us for almost anything,” Trump said during a speech on Sept. 12. “Sometimes our allies treat us worse than anybody else.”

During a campaign rally on Sept. 9, Trump said that it’s American “allies that took the greatest advantage of this country.”

Trump may also make the case that Seoul should pay more for defense during his upcoming summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting the US on Sept. 22-26 to attend the UN General Assembly.

The US, which claims that it costs about US$5 billion a year, directly and indirectly, to maintain its troop presence in South Korea, has reportedly been signaling that South Korea needs to greatly increase its defense contribution, which amounted to 1.04 trillion won (US$878.97 million) this year.

While South Korea has stressed that it share of the defense cost should be “reasonable and fair,” intense pressure from Trump suggests that the negotiations won’t be easy.

Some South Korean government officials contend that Seoul’s acquisitions of cutting-edge American weapons systems ought to be included in the negotiations.

According to some analysts, the US wants South Korea not only to bump up its defense contribution but to also become an eager participant in its Indo-Pacific Strategy by committing troops to American-led initiatives.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter

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