According to the American newspaper The Hill, on August 17th, local time, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, once again criticizing South Korea for not participating in U.S. military actions against Iran.
Trump said, "I called the South Korean president (Lee Jae-myung). I said to him, 'Can you help us? Although we don’t need assistance, if you wish, you can help us deal with Iran.'"
He (Li Zai Ming) replied, "Not at all, thank you." Trump revealed.
Trump continued, “I said to him, ‘What do you mean by this? We have 39,000 soldiers there to protect you from North Korea, and you don’t want to help us deal with Iran?’ It was strange.”
He continued to complain, “I want to help them, but you know, when you ask someone ‘Would you like to help us?’ and they say ‘No, thank you’, then we have to protect them, while also spending billions of dollars on this…”
According to Trump, during his first term in office, he persuaded South Korea to pay billions of dollars to the United States in exchange for military protection. However, the Biden administration later revoked this order.
Reports say that the Biden administration and South Korea have signed a cost-sharing agreement between the two sides.
"We could have earned higher compensation," Trump began, "but we were unable to protect all those countries, especially when those countries weren't willing to help us."
Trump accused South Korea on the 17th, video screenshot
Earlier, Trump posted a message on social media, stating that given his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he had asked the Department of Defense to significantly reduce the scale of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea.
He also mentioned that he recently asked South Korea and the United States to work together to promote ‘Iran's denuclearization’, but this request was rejected by South Korea.
On the 17th, the South Korean presidential palace Yeongwadae stated that South Korea and the United States have always maintained close coordination regarding the maintenance of a strong joint defense posture, as well as joint military exercises and training activities. They will continue to collaborate on related matters in the future.
A senior official from South Korea said that the Korean side pays close attention to the information released by Trump on social media. The Korean side has been actively participating in discussions within the international community regarding the promotion of a ceasefire between Iran and the United States, as well as the restoration of free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Considering various factors such as the state of tension on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures, the Korean side is closely consulting with the US side on practical military contribution plans.
