Korea-US Summit Talks Remain Undecided as U.S. Pressures South Korea to Increase Military Fees and Tariffs

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo: South Korea-US Summit Talks Remain Undecided, US Pressures South Korea to Pay $10 Billion in Military Fees and 25% Tariff

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo reported on July 11 that after the return of Kim Sung-ho, the head of the National Security Office, it was confirmed that the summit meeting between President Lee Jae-myung and President Trump "has not yet been scheduled for a specific date." At the same time, the US has continuously sent strong signals - on July 8, President Trump publicly pressured South Korea at a cabinet meeting to pay $10 billion (about 13.735 trillion won) in defense costs annually, far exceeding South Korea's current defense spending level of about 2.3% of GDP. This statement was made the day after Trump wrote a letter to Lee Jae-myung, announcing that a 25% reciprocal tariff would be imposed on South Korea from August 1, creating a dual pressure that made South Korea feel oppressed. After previously demanding that NATO allies spend 5% of their GDP on defense, the United States is now making similar demands on its Asian allies. Meanwhile, a report by the U.S. think tank "Center for Strategic and International Studies" (CSIS) suggested reducing the number of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea to 10,000, although this is not an official position of the U.S. Department of Defense. However, combined with the policy tendencies of the Trump administration in its second term and the upcoming "National Defense Strategy" (NDS) to be released in August, the South Korean government is urgently assessing the potential high-cost demands that the U.S. may propose during the summit meeting. President Lee Jae-myung held an intelligence meeting yesterday, and it is said that he is studying a comprehensive countermeasure to link defense spending and tariff negotiations, but remains cautious about sensitive issues such as transferring wartime command authority.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837433233733657/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author alone.