The highest-ranking military officer of the US visited Seoul for talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure on his Asian allies over defense spending and trade.
General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks with South Korea’s Admiral Kim Myung-soo in Seoul on Thursday, Kim’s office said. The two military leaders will be joined by Japan’s General Yoshihide Yoshida for a trilateral meeting Friday.
“They will assess the implementation of security cooperation among the three nations and discuss ways to further development and maintain the momentum of collaboration,” the South Korean military said in a statement. Yoshida is the highest ranking Japanese military officer to visit South Korea in 15 years, it added.
The series of meetings takes place at a tricky time with the US allies facing growing pressure from Trump to ramp up their outlays on security and lessen the burden on the US.
Trump said earlier this week that South Korea should pay more for its own defense after sending letters to Seoul and Tokyo setting out higher tariff rates on their exports. The start of the higher rates was delayed until Aug. 1 to allow for further negotiations.
The sharing of costs for hosting 28,500 US troops in South Korea was a bone of contention during Trump’s first presidency. Referring to their negotiations during his first term, Trump said South Korea “went crazy” when he demanded the country pay billions of dollars a year for the American troops stationed on its soil.
South Korea’s National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Wednesday the two countries are discussing expanding Seoul’s defense spending in line with the global trend. NATO leaders agreed last month to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 in a major win for Trump.
Adding to concerns over Trump’s security commitment, talk of the US considering a reduction in the number of its forces stationed in South Korea continues even after the Pentagon denied such a review is under way.
Trump’s growing call for allies to raise their defense budgets comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has emerged as a key ally for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.
In the latest sign of deepening ties, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is set to visit North Korea this week, less than a month after Putin’s top security aide, Sergei Shoigu, met with Kim in Pyongyang to discuss additional personnel deployment from North Korea.
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