Donald Trump slams South Korea’s Moon Jae-in, but touts friendship with Kim Jong-un
- ‘We were treated like fools for decades,’ the former president says, accusing Moon of ripping off the US
- Trump also attacked Biden for not demanding ‘additional billions’ from South Korea to pay for US troops stationed in the country
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“President Moon was weak as a leader and as a negotiator, except when it came to the continued, long term military rip-off of the USA … We were treated like fools for decades, however, I got them to pay billions of dollars more for the military protection and services we render.”
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During his presidency, Trump positioned himself as a lead negotiator in peace talks on the Korean peninsula.
In March, South Korea agreed to pay 13.9 per cent more toward the cost of the US troop presence on the peninsula, in a six-year deal resolving an issue that festered under the Trump administration.
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The financial dispute had bedevilled the two allies’ security alliance after Trump – who took a transactional approach to foreign policy – repeatedly accused South Korea of freeloading.
Washington stations around 28,500 troops in South Korea to defend it from the nuclear-armed North Korea, as well as to protect US interests in northeast Asia.
Under the new deal, Seoul has agreed to pay 1.18 trillion won (US$1.03 billion) for 2021, with annual increases thereafter linked to its defence budget.
The sum represents a 13.9 per cent increase on the roughly US$920 million Seoul was paying under the previous agreement, which expired in 2019 – but is a far cry from the Trump administration’s initial demand of US$5 billion a year.
