Trump Says If He Were in Office, S. Korea Would Pay Billions More Annually for US Troops l KBS WORLD

U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump stated if he have been at present in workplace, South Korea could be paying ten billion U.S. {dollars}, or about 13 trillion gained, a 12 months in protection value sharing to station American troops on the Korean Peninsula.

At an occasion co-hosted by the Financial Membership of Chicago and Bloomberg on Tuesday, Trump stated South Korea could be comfortable to shoulder the quantity, calling the nation a “cash machine.”

Trump’s remarks got here after the allies lately concluded negotiations for a brand new five-year cost-sharing deal often called the Particular Measures Settlement(SMA). Underneath the settlement, Seoul pays one-point-52 trillion gained, or round one-point-one billion {dollars}, a 12 months in 2026, up eight-point-three p.c from 2025. The fee sharing will rise yearly according to the Shopper Worth Index by way of 2030.

Emphasizing that the U.S. protects South Korea from North Korea’s safety threats, akin to its nuclear capabilities, Trump claimed that he had gotten together with the North’s chief Kim Jong-un throughout his presidency.

Trump additionally referred to Pyongyang’s demolition of sections of roads that linked the 2 Koreas earlier within the day, falsely stating that Seoul has been lower off on its land routes stretching as far north as Russia and China by way of the North.