Trump suggests US should own land for bases in South Korea

US President Donald Trump said during talks with South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung that the United States should have ownership of the land where nearly 28,500 American troops are stationed, instead of leasing it under the current arrangement.

“We spent a lot of money building a fort, and there was a contribution made by South Korea, but I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base,” Trump said at the White House meeting, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media. 

This was Lee’s first visit to Washington since his election in June, following the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol.

“Maybe one of the things I’d like to do is ask them to give us ownership of the land where we have the big fort,” Trump said, emphasising the US investment. “Though he acknowledged that South Korea had made contributions, I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base.”

The issue was raised when Trump was asked whether his administration planned to reduce US Forces Korea troop numbers.

His comments came a day after Lee told South Korean journalists that while Washington was pressing for “strategic flexibility” of US Forces Korea to counter threats beyond the peninsula, Seoul found it “difficult to readily agree.”

Under the Status of Forces Agreement, South Korea leases land for US troops as part of a mutually agreed legal framework governing the presence and activities of American forces in the country.

By Sabina Mammadli