The American president mentioned Washington ought to search to acquire the leased websites
US President Donald Trump has mentioned he would really like the United States to acquire possession of the land the place its navy bases are positioned in South Korea, as a substitute of leasing it.
Sitting alongside South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, on Monday, Trump claimed that Washington has invested closely in infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula and maintains “over 40,000 troops” there, but the land below these amenities stays leased from Seoul.
“Maybe one of the things I’d like to do is ask them to give us ownership of the land where we have the big fort,” he mentioned. “I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base.”
Trump didn’t specify which navy “fort” he meant. The largest US facility in South Korea, Camp Humphreys, was accomplished in 2018 after a decade-long relocation undertaking and billions in funding from each governments. The United States at the moment operates its abroad bases below long-term lease agreements and Status of Forces treaties, which grant Washington operational management whereas sustaining de jure sovereignty for the host nation.
The precise variety of American troops at the moment stationed in South Korea is estimated at round 28,500, making it one of many largest US navy presences overseas after Japan and Germany. Trump mentioned that in his earlier time period Seoul had agreed to cowl the prices of US troops’ maintenance, however that President Joe Biden had reversed the association.
“We were getting paid billions of dollars. But then Biden ended that for whatever reason,” Trump mentioned, calling the transfer “unbelievable.”
Trump’s remarks are constant together with his long-standing view that Washington’s companions should pay extra for American “protection,” whether or not by way of direct monetary contributions, bigger protection budgets, or expanded financial ties with the US.
During each his first and present time period, he has pressed NATO members to extend their navy spending, repeatedly threatening to rethink commitments and arguing that US taxpayers mustn’t shoulder what he calls a “disproportionate burden.”
The South Korean chief has not publicly responded to Trump’s feedback. North Korea has for many years criticized the US navy presence as an occupation power and condemned its drills with Seoul as rehearsals for invasion.
(RT.com)