Inquisitive_
VIP
A vow by President Donald Trump to make South Korea pay $1bn for a US-owned and operated missile shield has sparked a backlash in Seoul, the latest blow to the alliance as doubts grow in Seoul over the new president’s policies in the region.
Mr Trump told Reuters he had “informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid” for the “phenomenal” system that “shoots missiles right out of the sky”. He also reiterated the administration’s intention to “renegotiate or terminate” the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement.
The US president’s comments are the latest in a series of moves to have sparked alarm in South Korea. Officials expressed private shock this week when Mr Trump phoned Beijing and Tokyo but not Seoul ahead of an anticipated provocation by North Korea.
Doubts had already grown over US reliability as an ally after Washington announced earlier this month that it was dispatching a US naval strike force to waters off the Korean peninsula in a show of force to the North Korean regime that prompted a threat of nuclear war. It later emerged that the ships had sailed in the opposite direction, sparking consternation in Seoul.
Mr Trump also drew public derision in South Korea with comments following his summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping that “Korea actually used to be a part of China” — a notion most Koreans reject.
site
https://www.ft.com/content/8ad8f420-2bc8-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7
Mr Trump told Reuters he had “informed South Korea it would be appropriate if they paid” for the “phenomenal” system that “shoots missiles right out of the sky”. He also reiterated the administration’s intention to “renegotiate or terminate” the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement.
The US president’s comments are the latest in a series of moves to have sparked alarm in South Korea. Officials expressed private shock this week when Mr Trump phoned Beijing and Tokyo but not Seoul ahead of an anticipated provocation by North Korea.
Doubts had already grown over US reliability as an ally after Washington announced earlier this month that it was dispatching a US naval strike force to waters off the Korean peninsula in a show of force to the North Korean regime that prompted a threat of nuclear war. It later emerged that the ships had sailed in the opposite direction, sparking consternation in Seoul.
Mr Trump also drew public derision in South Korea with comments following his summit with Chinese president Xi Jinping that “Korea actually used to be a part of China” — a notion most Koreans reject.
site
https://www.ft.com/content/8ad8f420-2bc8-11e7-9ec8-168383da43b7