The US and South Korea reach an agreement on the defense costs of the displaced troops

The US and South Korea reach an agreement on the defense costs of the displaced troops

The US State Department has reported that Seoul and Washington have reached an agreement to share defense costs between the two countries after US President Joe Biden promised to “revitalize and modernize” relations with the Asian nation. The agreement consists of sharing the costs of the presence of US troops in South Korea.

The South Korean government has detailed in a statement that the agreement “will close the gap that has existed for more than a year” with the United States, after former President Donald Trump launched criticism against Seoul.

Frictions between Seoul and Trump were strained when the former president demanded that they collect about $ 5 billion annually from the parking of American soldiers, an amount much higher than what was paid so far and that South Korea described as unacceptable.

The US and South Korea reach an agreement on the defense costs of the displaced troops

The United States currently has 28,500 soldiers in South Korea to counter possible threats from North Korea, in fact, next week both countries will begin their usual spring military drill, the first since the arrival at the White House of US President Joe Biden ; exercises that often provoke the ire of North Korea, which sees them as a show of force near its borders.