Trump's pressure for defense cost increase expected to intensify

[Anchor]

With the return of former President Donald Trump, who had even mentioned the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea, pressure for an increase in defense costs from the U.S. is expected to intensify.

There is a possibility that the recently concluded defense cost negotiations may be revisited.

This issue has been examined by reporter Shin Ji-hye.

[Report]

Former President Trump announced in 2020 that he would withdraw one-third of U.S. troops stationed in Germany.

Trump said Germany has not been paying its fair share of defense spending, and he threatened to reduce the number of troops until they pay enough.

[Donald Trump/Former U.S. President/June 2020: "We're removing a number down to, we're putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers."]

Trump applied similar pressure on South Korea.

In 2020, South Korea's defense cost contribution was around 1 trillion won annually, but at that time, Trump demanded that South Korea increase it to 5 billion dollars.

Recently, he doubled the amount, which is why there are predictions that the new defense cost-sharing agreement reached with the Biden administration last month may need to be renegotiated.

[Donald Trump/Former U.S. President/Oct. 15: "If I were there now, they'd be paying us 10 billion dollars a year. And you know what? They'd be happy to do it. It's a money machine."]

During his presidency, he mentioned several times to his aides that if South Korea did not pay enough, they would have to consider the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea. So if renegotiation becomes a reality, it seems likely he will use the stationed troop adjustments as a pressure tactic again.

[Min Jeong-hoon/Professor of American Studies, Korea National Diplomatic Academy : "There is a possibility of discord between South Korea and the U.S. because it could increase South Korea's financial burden in terms of deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula or conducting joint exercises, which are essential for operating the South Korea-U.S. alliance."]

However, since the reduction of U.S. troops in South Korea can be checked by the U.S. Congress, the government has been making efforts to gain bipartisan support for the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

This is KBS News, Shin Ji-hye.