WaPo Editorial Board: American steadfastness is in doubt in South Korea thanks to Trump's policies

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

American steadfastness is in doubt in South Korea thanks to Trump’s policies

By Editorial Board
11/23/2019, 2:17:21 p.m.

AMID A Capitol Hill impeachment drama arising from tensions between President Trump and a relatively new U.S. ally across the Atlantic, Ukraine, differences were also growing between the United States and an old ally across the Pacific: South Korea. The source of friction, not just coincidentally, is Mr. Trump’s view that supporting traditional allies is a bad “deal” for Americans, and that ungrateful proteges need to pay up.

This past week, Mr. Trump sent negotiators to seek a larger South Korean contribution to the costs of keeping 28,500 U.S. troops in that country, from $923 million per year, the current level, to a reported $5 billion. When Korean counterparts balked at this demand — highly unpopular in their country — Mr. Trump’s envoys walked out. Media outlets in Seoul reported that Mr. Trump was considering raising the pressure by pulling out 4,000 troops; Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper denied it, though the fact remains that Mr. Trump himself has spoken of a pullout previously. Meanwhile, South Korea set up more military hotlines with China and promised to “foster bilateral exchanges and cooperation in defence,” starting with a visit by South Korea’s defense minister to Beijing next year. This is more likely a South Korean pressure tactic for the talks with the United States than the beginning of a Seoul-Beijing alliance, but it also must be seen as a hedge against an increasingly less reliable United States.

Unquestionably, it is worrisome. The United States has maintained a troop presence on the Korean Peninsula since the end of the Korean War. Thanks in part to that commitment, northeastern Asia has been spared a new war, while South Korea has grown into a democracy and the 11th-largest economy in the world. It’s the second attribute, wealth, that impresses Mr. Trump most: The cost of keeping troops in a prosperous nation has rankled him for years, especially in light of the trade surplus South Korea enjoys with the United States ($17.9 billion in 2018).

No doubt, South Korea could afford to pay more. (Its current share amounts to about 40 percent of day-to-day expenses.) Indeed, Seoul’s 2018 payment represents an 8 percent increase over the previous year. Yet Mr. Trump’s attitude totally discounts the fact that the South Koreans paid 90 percent of the $10.8 billion construction cost for an immense new U.S. base 40 miles south of Seoul. South Korea’s own male population faces obligatory military service. Mr. Trump seems not to comprehend that a forward defense position in Asia pays for itself, in security.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/american-steadfastness-is-in-doubt-in-south-korea-thanks-to-trumps-policies/2019/11/23/efdaf63c-0bc4-11ea-97ac-a7ccc8dd1ebc_story.html

[Doodley]

1. Trump's actions only helps North Korea.

[elleng]

2. American steadfastness is in doubt throughout the world.

[duforsure]

3. What under the table deal with Kim was made

Allowing him to build up his nuclear arsenal, and further develop and test his missile delivery systems, sweetheart land with development deals using his sons?