Trump "negotiating strategy" with South Korea backfires

The comments below were prompted by this Reuters article:

Exclusive: Inside Trump's standoff with South Korea over defense costs
Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali
8 MIN READ

APRIL 10, 2020 / 2:04 PM / Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-southkorea-trump-defense-exclusiv/exclusive-inside-trumps-standoff-with-south-korea-over-defense-costs-idUSKCN21S1W7

...Trump’s decision to reject the South Korean offer came last week after consultations with Esper and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, officials say. It followed months of intense negotiations that saw South Korea eventually propose to pay more money than ever before as part of a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA).

But Seoul’s proposed increase was far below even the substantially lowered expectations of the Trump administration, who had initially sought an exponential increase to as much $5 billion from the roughly $900 million South Korea agreed to in the last one-year, cost-sharing agreement.

The article above provides some background on the deadlock in the SMA military cost burden sharing negotiations between the US and South Korea. South Koreans point out the US demands do not include financial burdens South Korea maintains unilaterally to support US Forces Korea. Among those are the provision of bases cost free, and the construction of the largest US base outside the US at Pyongtaek, Camp Humphreys, at a cost of $9.8 billion US to South Korea. Additionally, South Korea provides troops trained in US language and customs to assist and facilitate US military missions in South Korea. (KATUSA: Korea augmentees to the US Army.) The US calculations also ignore the substantial purchases by South Korea of advanced weaponry from the US every year, and the substantial amount of its own GDP that South Korea commits to national defense each year, the highest among US allies. The exorbitant US demands are an disingenuous attempt to force South Korea to undertake additional costs of the so-called Indo-Pacific alliance aimed against China of which it is not a part. The Trump administration hopes to set a precedent with South Korea by forcing them to absorb a massively increased "share" of alliance costs which will then serve as an example to extract additional increased contributions from Japan and NATO allies.

The latest news reports in South Korea are now reporting that a supplementary budget measure in South Korea will augment spending for corona virus measures by 7.6 trillion KRW. To compensate for this S.Korean military operating costs will be reduced by 1.9 trillion KRW to 7.12 trillion KRW. Part of the reduction will be obtained by deferring defense acquisition expenditures currently anticipated by US defense contractors. F-35A acquisition expenditures are reduced by 300 billion won. The marine helicopter acquisition program potentially affecting Lockheed's MH60R bid in a competition with Leonardo's AW159 is reduced by 200 billion KRW. Aegis systems acquisition for the South Korean Gwangaeto III warship is reduced by 100 billion KRW. The supplemental budget proposal will also provide financing for thousands of Korean civilian employees laid off April 1 due to the deadlock in SMA negotiations.

(See: 美스텔스기 구매 미루고 與 근로자특별법 추진..방위비 반격?
최종일 기자 입력 2020.04.17. 11:55; https://news.v.daum.net/v/20200417115557294)

After being "advised" by Pompeo and Esper, President Trump personally rejected the South Korean offer of a 13 percent increase in its share of US military costs under the SMA. This is after the 8 percent increase in the South Korean share last year. US negotiators were hoping the recent forced leave without pay of thousands of Korean employees at US military facilities would pressure S.Korea to be more compliant with US demands at the negotiating table. The layoff took place during the recent general election campaigns for the National Assembly. Esper in fact, was dismissive of questioning by a South Korean reporter at a press conference with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on April 14 on the eve of the election concerning the deadlock. He said the negotiations were a State Department function. Yet as the article at the link above shows, he was actively jawboning the South Korean defense secretary a week earlier. Ambassador Harris is in the deep freeze in South Korea due to "strained relations" with our ally. The US administration's bullheaded negotiating style has probably contributed to the overwhelming landslide the incumbent administration experienced on April 15. Rather than weakening the South Korean negotiating position, it has strengthened it.