Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that South Korea had agreed to pay the United States "a lot more money" for protection against North Korea and that talks had begun to further increase payments.
Trump tweeted early on Wednesday that the US "has been paid very little" for decades but last year "South Korea paid USD990,000,000".
As he left the White House for Texas and Ohio, Trump told reporters that he felt for years the situation "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," he added.
South Korea and the US in March signed a deal to increase Seoul's payments for US troop deployment there from US$850 million in 2018 to US$924 million in 2019. The White House, when asked about the apparent discrepancy between Trump's tweet and those figures, said it would look into it.
Trump's financial demands have triggered worries in South Korea that he might withdraw some of the 28,500 US troops.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the cost-sharing talks had not officially started. But it said that US and South Korean officials during Trump national security adviser John Bolton's visit to Seoul last month agreed that the upcoming negotiations should proceed in a "rational and fair direction".
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Meanwhile, as US stocks tumbled early Wednesday amid fear of a growing US-China trade war, Trump said the reaction "is anticipated." But he brushed off the negative news and said ultimately, "it's going to go much higher than it ever would" as a result of his actions against Bejing including sanctions and increasing tariffs.
Trump, however, said a deal to end the trade war is still possible, insisting, "I will tell you this: China would like to make a deal very badly."
