Posted on 03/08/2019 7:01:09 AM PST by BenLurkin
South Korea and the U.S. on Friday formally signed a deal on Seoul's increased payment for the U.S. troop deployment, amid worries about the future of the countries' decades-long military alliance.
President Donald Trump earlier pressured Seoul to increase its share, triggering concerns in South Korea that he might withdraw some of the 28,500 U.S. troops here if Seoul refused to accept his demand. Experts say Trump will likely again apply pressure when the two countries meet in coming months to determine Seoul's contribution next year.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris signed the new cost-sharing deal on Friday.
During a signing ceremony, Kang called the deal "the results of hard work and sometimes difficult work" that "the alliance can build upon to become stronger and greater." Harries said the deal's signing underscores "the importance of iron-clad nature of our alliance."
Earlier this week, the two countries eliminated their huge springtime military drills and replaced them with smaller training in what they called a bid to back diplomatic efforts to strip North Korea of its nuclear weapons. Trump tweeted that "the reason I do not want military drills with South Korea is to save hundreds of millions of dollars for the U.S. for which we are not reimbursed."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
How odd. I recall that President CArter promised to have all US troops out of RoK by the end of 1976.
What happened?
He bought a calendar and realized he wasn't president.
Good about time SK stepped it up.
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