Alwaght- South Korea defied US president call on Seoul to pay for hosting the American THAAD anti-missile system, saying the west Asian country is only committed to providing land and facilities.
In line with his campaign-time narrative that Washington’s allies are benefiting US protection without paying their share, Donald Trump, in an interview with Reuters, said he wants South Korea to pay around $1 billion for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.
“I informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid. It’s a billion dollar system,” Trump said on Wednesday as he was, for the first time, mentioning the costs of THAAD’s deployment in Korean peninsula.
“It’s phenomenal, shoots missiles right out of the sky,” he added, promoting the anti-missile system that is being deployed in South Korea amid much public discontent and fears that it will only make the immediate surroundings a prime target of a potential strike.
However, United States’ west Asian ally rejected Trump’s call, with South Korean Defense Ministry saying in a statement that “There is no change in South Korea and the United States' position that our government provides the land and supporting facilities and the US bears the cost of the THAAD system's deployment, operation and maintenance”.
Meanwhile, a top foreign policy adviser to South Korean presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in has already said that paying for THAAD would be an “impossible option.”
“Even if we purchase THAAD, its main operation would be in the hands of the United States,” said Kim Ki-jung, a foreign policy adviser to Moon and professor at Seoul's Yonsei University.
“So purchasing it would be an impossible option. That was our topic when we were considering the options,” Kim said.
Saudis Not Paying Us Fair Price; We’re Losing Our Shirt
Donald Trump also censured its Persian Gulf ally, Saudi Arabia, for not paying its fair share in return for the US defense.
"Frankly, Saudi Arabia has not treated us fairly, because we are losing a tremendous amount of money in defending Saudi Arabia,” Donald Trump said his interview with Reuters news agency.
Trump’s criticism of Saudi Arabia was a return to his 2016 election campaign rhetoric where he questioned the protective nature of US relations with the oil-rich kingdom.
"We take care of Saudi Arabia. Nobody’s going to mess with Saudi Arabia because we’re watching them," Trump said during a rally in Wisconsin a year ago. “They’re not paying us a fair price. We’re losing our shirt.”
The billionaire even suggested then that Washington should consider ditching Riyadh because the US was increasingly lessening its dependence on overseas oil.
However, Trump toned down the rhetoric after he took office in January.
The president received Saudi Arabia’s powerful deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House last month, a meeting that was hailed by a senior Saudi adviser as a “historical turning point” in US-Saudi relations.
The meeting, Trump’s first with a Middle Eastern dignitary as president, appeared to signal agreements on many issues including the view that Iran was a regional security threat.
Saudi Arabia sees in Trump a president who will restore Washington’s role as its main strategic partner, after relations reached a low point under former President Barack Obama over a nuclear agreement with Iran.
Trump said his administration was in talks about possible visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel next month.
