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 international locations has been a favourite subject of U.S. President Donald Trump since his first time period within the White Home.
However as extra international locations 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 dwelling to about 28,500 U.S. troops often known as U.S. Forces Korea. On April 8, Trump wrote on Fact Social that he had mentioned “fee for the massive time Navy Safety we offer to South Korea,” amongst different points, with then-acting president Han Duck-soo.
“We’re citing different topics that aren’t coated by Commerce and Tariffs, and getting them negotiated additionally. “ONE STOP SHOPPING” is a stupendous and environment friendly course of!!!” Trump wrote.
Whereas South Korean officers have reportedly mentioned 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.
Nonetheless, analysts informed CNBC {that a} transactional method 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 mentioned, “It has been mentioned that commerce and safety are two sides of the identical coin, and one assumes that as commerce dependencies shift, safety alliances will observe.”
However, the picture of the U.S. in Asia, Ng mentioned, “has modified from liberator to nice disruptor to a landlord searching for hire.”
The U.S. president is more likely to convey protection funds up in commerce talks, Bruce Bennett, Professor of Coverage Evaluation on the RAND Faculty of Public Coverage, informed CNBC.
“It is the way in which he does enterprise,” Bennett mentioned. “So it isn’t like he undoubtedly desires to convey troops dwelling, however it’s a matter that he desires the popularity and the acceptance of accountability from our allies,” he added.
This was the stance espoused by U.S. Underneath Secretary of Protection Elbridge Colby, who mentioned in a 2024 interview that U.S. Forces Korea must be overhauled to be “extra related” to dealing with China, versus North Korea.
A method South Korea might “pay extra” is by investing in its forces and shopping for extra U.S. army gear, Bennett mentioned.
This can 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’ll use it to purchase gear in order that the U.S. can have a shift in focus, I feel that may go a protracted method to assembly the President’s pursuits.”
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 this planet, based on 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% improve from the yr earlier than.
Nonetheless, such a transactional method will harm U.S. credibility, Hoshik Nam, assistant professor on the Division of Sociology and Political Science at Jacksonville State College, mentioned.
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 might 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, often known as the Standing of Forces Settlement.
Price sharing solely turned a function of the alliance in 1991, when Seoul agreed to share a number of the burden of stationing U.S. troops in three areas, specifically logistics, native labor, and army development.
Nam defined that South Korea’s fast financial progress from the Nineteen Sixties created the circumstances for cost-sharing.
“Each international locations 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 mentioned.
“Concerning development, most initiatives are carried out by Korean development corporations. By way of logistics, the gear, providers, and amenities are all provided by Korean corporations,” 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).
Nonetheless, Trump’s ‘one cease procuring’ stance to bundle commerce with protection agreements might throw the most recent cost-sharing settlement by the Biden administration into jeopardy, on condition that the 2024 settlement covers the interval of 2026-2030.
