U.S. joint army train with South Korea in Yeoncheon-gun, South Korea.
Getty Pictures
Sharing the prices of internet hosting U.S. troops in allied nations has been a favourite matter of U.S. President Donald Trump since his first time period within the White Home.
However as extra nations attempt to eke out a deal to flee the spectre of tariffs in his second time period, Trump is making his personal strikes: bundling negotiations on commerce, tariffs, and protection cost-sharing right into a single complete deal, which he known as “one-stop procuring.”
One such nation in his sights is South Korea, which is house to about 28,500 U.S. troops referred to as U.S. Forces Korea. On April 8, Trump wrote on Reality Social that he had mentioned “fee for the large time Army Safety we offer to South Korea,” amongst different points, with then-acting president Han Duck-soo.
“We’re mentioning different topics that aren’t lined by Commerce and Tariffs, and getting them negotiated additionally. “ONE STOP SHOPPING” is a phenomenal and environment friendly course of!!!” Trump wrote.
Whereas South Korean officers have reportedly stated that protection funds are off the desk, the nation’s two main presidential candidates, Lee Jae-myung and Kim Moon-soo, have hinted that they’re open to discussing a protection cost-sharing settlement.
Nevertheless, analysts informed CNBC {that a} transactional strategy would not essentially work within the U.S.’s favor.
Paying dues
On the Munich Safety Convention in February, then-Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen stated, “It has been stated that commerce and safety are two sides of the identical coin, and one assumes that as commerce dependencies shift, safety alliances will comply with.”
However, the picture of the U.S. in Asia, Ng stated, “has modified from liberator to nice disruptor to a landlord in search of hire.”
The U.S. president is more likely to deliver protection funds up in commerce talks, Bruce Bennett, Professor of Coverage Evaluation on the RAND Faculty of Public Coverage, informed CNBC.
“It is the best way he does enterprise,” Bennett stated. “So it is not like he undoubtedly needs to deliver troops house, however it’s a matter that he needs the popularity and the acceptance of duty from our allies,” he added.
A technique South Korea may “pay extra” is by investing in its forces and shopping for extra U.S. army gear, Bennett stated.
It will allow the South Korean army to plug any functionality gaps whereas permitting U.S. Forces Korea to focus extra on China, he added.
“[If] the Korean authorities says we’re volunteering to …increase our price range by $3 or $4 billion, we will use it to purchase gear in order that the U.S. can have a shift in focus, I believe that will go an extended approach to assembly the President’s pursuits.”
This was the stance espoused by U.S. Underneath Secretary of Protection Elbridge Colby, who stated in a 2024 interview that U.S. Forces Korea needs to be overhauled to be “extra related” to dealing with China, versus North Korea.
South Korea spent 2.6% of its GDP on protection in 2024, greater than the worldwide common of two.5%, and one of many highest on the planet, in line with the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute.
In 2025, the nation allotted 61.25 trillion South Korean gained ($43.83 billion) for protection, or a 3.1% enhance from the 12 months earlier than.
Nevertheless, such a transactional strategy will injury U.S. credibility, Hoshik Nam, assistant professor on the Division of Sociology and Political Science at Jacksonville State College, stated.
Utilizing the deployment of U.S. forces as leverage in commerce negotiations could lead on shut allies to understand U.S. commitments as much less credible, Nam added.
“In the long run, this place may reframe the U.S. as an remoted superpower.”
How the burden sharing has advanced
South Korea wasn’t required to make any monetary contribution in its authentic 1966 settlement with the united stateson troops stationed within the nation, referred to as the Standing of Forces Settlement.
Value sharing solely grew to become a characteristic of the alliance in 1991, when Seoul agreed to share among the burden of stationing U.S. troops in three areas, specifically logistics, native labor, and army building.
Nam defined that South Korea’s speedy financial development from the Sixties created the situations for cost-sharing.
“Each nations additionally agreed that their relationship ought to transfer past a easy aid-provider and recipient dynamic,” he famous.
The funds offered by the South Korean authorities additionally created native jobs and helped native industries, Nam stated.
“Concerning building, most tasks are carried out by Korean building firms. By way of logistics, the gear, companies, and amenities are all equipped by Korean firms,” Nam highlighted.
In October 2024, Seoul agreed to increase its contribution for internet hosting U.S. troops by 8.3% in 2026, to 1.52 trillion gained ($1.13 billion).
Nevertheless, Trump’s ‘one cease procuring’ stance to bundle commerce with protection agreements may throw the newest cost-sharing settlement by the Biden administration into jeopardy, on condition that the 2024 settlement covers the interval of 2026-2030.
