트럼프 "한국, 방위비 분담금 증액 동의...인상 협상 시작"<br /><br />The defense cost sharing talks are underway according to U.S. President Donald Trump... who tweeted, South Korea has agreed to pay a LOT more for the cost of stationing American troops on the Korean Peninsula.<br />But Seoul was quick to point out that official negotiations have yet to start. <br />Kan Hyeong-woo reports. <br />President Trump says South Korea has agreed to sharply increase its contribution for the shared cost of keeping the roughly 28-thousand American troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula.<br />"South Korea and I have made a deal where they're paying a lot more money and they're going to pay a lot more money. The relationship is a very good one. But I felt all along, I felt for years it was a very unfair one. So they've agreed to pay a lot more and they will agree to pay a lot more than that. And we're with them. We're with them."<br />Trump tweeted earlier in the day that talks to increase Seoul's contribution had begun. <br />The U.S. leader also said South Korea is a "very wealthy nation" that now feels obligated to contribute to the defense it receives from the U.S. military. <br />However, shortly after Trump's tweet was posted, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said negotiations on the Special Measures Agreement - a bilateral deal between South Korea and the U.S. to share the cost of American forces in Korea - have not started.<br />The ministry said that, during U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton's visit to Seoul last month... South Korea and the U.S. agreed to proceed with the issue in a "rational and fair direction"... adding the two sides plan to discuss the finer details in the negotiations.<br />The ministry also said it's working on selecting its next chief negotiator and forming a task force. <br />Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News. <br />
