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By Ryan Chan
China News Reporter
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North Korea compared South Korea as a "servant" to the United States after Seoul agreed to increase its share of the cost of hosting American forces by almost 10 percent.
The Korean Central News Agency, the state media of North Korea, on Friday published an article on the defense cost sharing negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea. It was written by Kim Myong Chol, an international affairs analyst of the country.
"The conclusion of the negotiation shows that there can be no change in the basic attribute of the subordinating and unequal relations between the master and the servant," the article read. It referred to Washington as the "master," and Seoul as the "servant."
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On October 4, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced that, following eight rounds of negotiations on the cost of hosting American military personnel over the past five months, it had agreed to increase its share by 8.3 percent to 1.52 trillion won ($1.14 billion).
The five-year deal on cost sharing, known as the Special Measures Agreement, "will be a significant accomplishment for both sides and will strengthen our alliance and our shared defense," the U.S. State Department said. This agreement takes effect from 2026 to 2030.
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Since 1991, South Korea has contributed to the deployment of American forces by sharing the costs of labor, logistics, and construction under the Special Measures Agreement. The U.S. claimed that this provided a stable stationing environment for its forces in the South.
A U.S. State Department official responded to Newsweek that more than 90 percent of the South Korean contributions were expended in the East Asian country's domestic economy, representing what the official called powerful investment in the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
"The proposed SMA [Special Measures Agreement], containing a negotiated meaningful increase in host nation support contributions from the Republic of Korea," the official added, using the official name of South Korea.
The North Korean article said that the U.S. forces will lead what it called a "luxurious life" in South Korea after the South paid "huge blood taxes" collected from its people.
It also claimed that South Korea is being used by the U.S. as an "asset" for its strategy, which aimed to contain North Korea and neighboring countries and maintain its hegemony in the region.
The agreement also came just a month before the U.S. presidential election, in which former President Donald Trump is seeking a return to the White House. During his presidency from 2017 to 2021, he had threatened to pull U.S. forces from South Korea if Seoul refused to pay $5 billion.
Regarding the U.S. election, the article said whenever "the master of the White House is replaced," South Korea has to be seized with uneasiness over the issues of its security, economy, and the cost of hosting the U.S. forces, showing the weakness of the alliance.
The U.S. military currently deploys 28,500 personnel in South Korea. The mission of the U.S. Forces Korea is to deter aggression from North Korea, which is ruled by leader Kim Jong Un and possesses 50 nuclear warheads, and, if necessary, defend the South.
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The alliance was formed in October 1953 with the signing of a mutual defense treaty after the Korean War hostilities ceased. The U.S. is committed to extended deterrence for South Korea with its full range of military capabilities, including nuclear.
Extended deterrence, also known as "nuclear umbrella," is to deter and, if necessary, to respond to potential nuclear and nonnuclear scenarios in defense of allies and partners.
Besides forward deployment of forces, the U.S. military routinely sends aircraft carriers, bombers, nuclear ballistic missile submarines, and conventional attack submarines to the Korean Peninsula as a complement to its deterrence against the nuclear-armed North Korea.
Update 10/17/24, 08:05 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from a U.S. State Department official.
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