[Anchor]
As the foreign policy and security team of the Trump administration’s second term is filled with figures who demand more burden from allies, concerns are growing about an increase in the cost of stationing U.S. troops in South Korea.
A senior official in the Biden administration has stated that South Korea is contributing a sufficient and generous level of defense costs and urged for the continued maintenance of a close alliance relationship.
This is Kwon Jun-gi reporting from Washington.
[Reporter]
Mike Waltz, who leads the foreign policy and security team in Trump’s second administration, has argued that allied countries need to increase their spending to reduce America’s security burdens.
He also emphasized the need for “tough conversations” to make allies bear more of the burden.
[Mike Waltz / National Security Advisor designate for Trump: Allies can also be friends, but we must have tough conversations if needed. We practically begged NATO allies to meet the 2% GDP spending target, and that’s not an excessive goal.]
With just two months left in the Biden administration, there are concerns about potential changes in alliance policy in Trump’s second term.
Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State who has managed Asia policy, advised that the U.S. must continue trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan if it doesn’t want to lose influence in the Indo-Pacific.
He emphasized that South Korea and Japan are fulfilling their share of defense cost-sharing responsibilities.
[Kurt Campbell / U.S. Deputy Secretary of State: Both Japan and South Korea have recently concluded negotiations on very generous and ample defense cost-sharing.]
Deputy Secretary Campbell encouraged President Yoon Suk-yeol to meet with President-elect Trump as soon as possible to convince him of South Korea’s importance as an ally.
Park Jin, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, observed that the initiative for Korea-U.S.-Japan dialogue originally came from President-elect Trump, indicating that trilateral cooperation will continue.
[Park Jin / Former Minister of Foreign Affairs: I remember it was during Trump’s government that talks of Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation began, so this partnership and cooperation will definitely continue.]
Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yong emphasized that South Korea’s defense spending relative to GDP ranks fourth among U.S. allies, and its investment in the U.S. is at a top level.
Therefore, he expressed confidence that even in the Trump administration’s second term, the Korea-U.S. alliance will continue to advance and reach the highest level of cooperation.
This is Kwon Jun-gi from YTN, Washington.
Filming: Kang Yeon-oh
Video Editing: Lee Joo-yeon
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