Esper presses ROK to pay more for troops
16 November, 2019
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper pressed South Korea on Friday to pay more for the cost of stationing U.S. troops in the country and to maintain an intelligence-sharing pact with its other Asian ally Japan that Seoul is about to let lapse.
Speaking after a high-level defense policy meeting with his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo, Esper also said the two countries have to be flexible with their joint military drills to support ongoing diplomatic efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear program.
But he stopped short of announcing any changes to exercises next month that North Korea has sharply condemned.
North Korea said Thursday it had turned down a U.S. offer for fresh talks ahead of a year-end deadline Pyongyang has set for Washington to show more flexibility in negotiations.
The United States and South Korea are scrambling to clinch an agreement in the coming weeks to cover next year’s costs of maintaining the 28,500-strong U.S. military presence aimed at deterring North Korea.
South Korea, Esper said, “is a wealthy country and could and should pay more” for the deployment of U.S. military in the South.
“It is crucial that we conclude the [defense pact] ... with increased burden sharing by the Republic of Korea before the end of the year,” Esper told a news conference.
Jeong said he and Esper discussed personal views on South Korea’s decision to end an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, called GSOMIA, and that both governments will put in realistic effort to narrow differences before the pact expires on Nov. 23.
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