US-South Korean Relations: South Koreans Reject Paying More For US Troops

While most South Koreans say they see the value of their military alliance with the United States, they are against increasing the amount they pay for U.S. troops stationed on the peninsula, a survey released Monday indicates.

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs queried 1,000 South Korean adults last Monday through Wednesday.

A one-year agreement in February between Washington and Seoul increased the South Korean payment for the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed there by 40% to $927 million. The Trump administration wants that increased to $5 billion.

U.S. troops first arrived in South Korea at the end of World War II but most were withdrawn until the 1950-53 Korean War – which technically still is not officially over -- broke out. The Seoul began paying for the U.S. deployment in the 1990s.

The survey indicated 68% of South Koreans want the government to pay less than the amount demanded by the Trump administration and 26% said the government should refuse to pay anything. Some 60% said the South Korean contribution should be between $1.7 billion and $2.5 billion, well below the administration ask.

Part of the problem is the disconnect between U.S. and South Korean policy toward North Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump has met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in an attempt to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program in exchange for security and economic benefits. As the talks have stalled, the North has gone back to testing missiles, threating both the South and Japan.

South Korean activists, apparently fed up with the pace of negotiations, descended on New York and Washington this fall to urge a change in the U.S. stance to push peace talks with the North forward.

“We have emphasized repeatedly that the basic problem threatening peace in the Korean Peninsula lies in the U.S.’s long-lasting hostile policies toward [North Korea],” Chongbok Lee, a veteran organizer and the chair of the group, told a U.N. conference in late October.

In general, 92% of South Koreans support the alliance with the United States, the survey indicated, and 63% said the alliance benefits both countries. Nearly nine in 10 (87%) admitted the presence of U.S. troops helps national security, and 78% said they believed the U.S. would defend South Korea if it were attacked.

Some 62% called for strengthened relations with the United States – even if that displeases China.