Posted on 08/12/2019 6:19:42 AM PDT by Lower Deck
In a move likely to have implications for Japan, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that discussions have begun with South Korea to get the Asian ally to pay more for the cost of maintaining U.S. troops there.
“South Korea has agreed to pay substantially more money to the United States in order to defend itself from North Korea,” Trump wrote in a Twitter post, saying that Seoul had paid the U.S. “very little” over the “past many decades.”
“Talks have begun to further increase payments to the United States,” he wrote. “South Korea is a very wealthy nation that now feels an obligation to contribute to the military defense provided by the United States of America.” Trump said later that he expects more money from South Korea.
“They’ve agreed to pay a lot more, and they will agree to pay a lot more than that,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
It already is and SK & Japan are getting it on the Cheap is all.
Japan needs to have whatever boot is pressed on them, that prevents them from arming-up, to be lifted.
If there is a war with China ever, then we are on the hook for defending that place and its millions of people still smarting over WW2.
The Japanese are crazy. They hate everybody and see themselves as a victim of WW2.
Sadly that is really going to hurt them in the next 10 years.
They are orderly people, but not remotely prepared for a war right across the pond.
It's called the Japanese constitution and the U.S. imposed it on them.
If there is a war with China ever, then we are on the hook for defending that place and its millions of people still smarting over WW2.
But only if they pay enough apparently.
I thought Japan was paying 100 percent of the US forces cost already...
Trump is asking the wrong question. Which is - is it in the U.S. SELF-INTEREST that the democratic governed state of South Korea remains free and independent? The answer is yes, because of the nature of the regimes that are adversaries to South Korea remaining democratic, free and strong - North Korea and China, primarily.
Therefor if it is in U.S. self-interest that the defense of South Korea is secure, then of all the U.S. costs for its own troops in South Korea what is responsibly South Korea costs and what is responsibly U.S. costs.
After previous Trump demands a new agreement was reached in February this year, which upped what South Korea paid the U.S. from $830 million to $924 million. IN addition, recently South Korea paid nearly all the $10 billion plus cost of the new Camp Humphreys base for U.S. troops.
I think the current President of South Korea is the wrong partner with which to be negotiating bigger South Korean payments. He is a Leftist. I don’t think he sees China the same way the U.S. does. For him the Communists are just some other Leftists whom South Korea can do business with - and the two nations now do a lot of business together. South Korea is very export dependent (like Japan) and nearly one quarter of its exports is to China. China is in return increasing investment in South Korea. Part of that activity is derived from the U.S. bailing out from the TPPC trade agreement after which China and South Korea are negotiating their own bi-lateral free trade agreement.
Then you have the ups and downs of South Korea relations with Japan. Then add that Trumps team is looking at a five-fold increase in Japan’s share of U.S. troop costs in Japan.
If pushed too hard you could get both Japan and Korea upping what each alone pays for military defenses, WITHOUT a U.S. alliance.
Some think (i don’t know as a fact its true) that Trump would be fine with that.
To me, that thinking treats U.S. military support to Japan and South Korea as no different than hired mercenaries and the mercenary in chief wants bigger payments for our mercenary services.
I disagree with that thinking.
The truth of the world is it - the world - operates geopolitically on power relationships, like it or not. And like it or not if there is a power vacuum then some powerful state WILL step in to try to fill it. That’s the reality.
I think our military support for Japan and South Korea is not just a cost and a burden but also in our own self interest. As it is in our self interest, I do not think it is in our interest for Japan and South Korea to wind up one day paying 100% of the costs of our troops we have as part of OUR common defense with them. If that were to happen, we’d wind up existing Japan and Korea and the advantage would go to China.
“It already is and SK & Japan are getting it on the Cheap is all.”
The figures that back that up are????
Hey, Trump, what would you charge them for having an 18 year old Barron over there?
This bs must stop. Our sons and daughters should be protecting our own borders.
This weekend, we made an agreement to protect British oil tankers. THIS IS NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY!
Or
We could do a trade - we have a few thousand soldiers protecting South Korea - they could assign a few thousand of their soldiers to protect OUR southern border.
Sorry, I thought because President Trump was saying that he had the figures and accurately stated what’s happened in the past and what should now happen in the future. My mistake.
I doubt it's 100% but they do defray a considerable amount of the costs for the U.S. forces there.
“Sorry, I thought because President Trump was saying that he had the figures and accurately stated what’s happened in the past and what should now happen in the future.”
No one seems to have 100% of all the actual figures. Neither the US DOD or the Japanese military bosses or the South Korean military has, or admits to agreeing 100% of the figures. Even though at various times there is and has been statements of what the general figures are. 1. The devil is in (a) the details and (b) what counts as US costs vs Japans or Korea’s costs. 2. And there domestic political and geopolitical reasons the full actual (derived from the details) are NOT publicly talked about - its a sensitive issue in both countries - the idea and question as to are Japan and Korea merely hiring US “mercenaries” or is it all an alliance in the US own self interest as well.
Extort more money from North Korea and how do you get your NATO allies to take you seriously. Trump keep saying that all he wants is for NATO to meet the 2% GDP defense spending threshold. South Korea spends close to 3% of their GDP on defense plus pays a considerable amount of the cost of the U.S. forces there and Trump still wants more. If I'm NATO I'm wondering why I should listen to Trump on my spending since even if I meet his first demand he'll come up with additional demands?
Army Brat. 1951-1961.
Sagamihara and Yokohama.
Hogwash to your Neo-Communist Globalist isolationist views that ensures the very destruction of the Constitutional Republic and the free nations of the world.
A complete pullout from the places of our strategic importance and value ensures Russian-Chinese regional/global dominance and governance along with their proxies
When the USA is paid more than the cost, then it becomes a protection racket.
Not just on an annual basis, but all back payments need to be paid, before anyone can belly ache about a "protection racket".
That was really a snarky question, but since you reside on the lower deck, it was to be expected.
As he should, you cheesy, pansy canuck.
NATO members, have been mooching from Uncle Sugar for over 75 years, starting with us saving their ass from the NAZIs and then from the USSR.
Those socialist pricks {including canada} have been hiding under our military umbrella for decades.
You belong on the lower d_ck. _ = e,i,o,u, you pick'm.
Easy to see why you’re getting along so well with all your allies.
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