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Yikes. Don’t sleep on how bad is getting worse quickly here: #SouthKorea says troop talks deadlocked as U.S. demands 'unacceptable' funding increase reuters.com/article/us-usa…
“At their last meeting, in December, the United States made ‘sudden, unacceptable’ demand that South Korea pay more than 1.4 trillion won per year, about 1.5 times its current contribution”
This was after, I understand, USFK and ROK had agreed on a draft SMA, which the White House punted back. (Also, Mattis’ resignation letter emphasizing alliances followed shortly after this meeting, IIRC.)
The ROK domestic political framing is this: Moon, under an economic crunch, is being shaken down to pay more than his conservative predecessor. There’s no appetite among the Minjoo/progressive base for anything of the sort—especially amid talks with DPRK.
So, we’re in a game of chicken within the alliance because of Trump’s demands—one that’s likely to result in growing political ill-will toward the United States (understandably) in South Korea.
Previous SMA agreements were mostly straightforward: ROK agreed to cover inflation + a modest premium, in line with shifts in USFK posture.
Another source of blowback in ROK is the creeping prospect of furloughs once provisional funds run out and a new SMA isn’t in place. Like the government shutdown at home, no SMA means ROK civilians working with USFK don’t get paid.
Sensing opportunity, North Korea is chiming in on the US-South Korea SMA issue: nknews.org/2019/01/dprk-m…
Rodong Sinmun: US should “provide enormous compensation to South Korean people for its numerous damages caused by its occupation”; increase in burden sharing would impact the “South Korean economy, which is facing a grave crisis and people suffering from hardships of life.”
