'Scrap the Lease!' Trump Pushes US Ownership of South Korea Lands, Ignites Fury Over 28,500 Troops

Oneindia

US President Donald Trump has sparked controversy by suggesting that the United States should own the land where over 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea, instead of continuing under the current lease arrangement. Speaking with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung at the White House, Trump emphasized the massive investment made by the US in building military bases and hinted at renegotiating or taking full control. The proposal raises questions about the future of US-South Korea relations and strategic military deployments in the region.    #Trump #SouthKorea #USForcesKorea #MilitaryBases #InternationalRelations #Geopolitics #USPolitics #AsiaSecurity #WhiteHouse #DefenseStrategy  ~PR.274~HT.408~

Transcript

00:00They would say, but we gave you land.

00:01I said, no, you didn't.

00:02You leased us land.

00:03There's a big difference between giving and leasing.

00:06I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease

00:08and get ownership of the land

00:11where we have a massive military base.

00:13Enough.

00:15And that was the end.

00:16That was the end.

00:18It ended very rapidly.

00:20But I think he had a good time.

00:23I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un

00:25in the appropriate future.

00:27Would you reduce the number of forces in South Korea

00:32so that the United States can have more flexibility

00:34in the region?

00:36Would you consider reducing the number of U.S.

00:38forces in South Korea so that the United States

00:41can have more flexibility in the region?

00:42The President.

00:43We've been friends and we're friends.

00:45Look, we have a lot of people over there.

00:48We have over 40,000 troops in South Korea.

00:50As you know, South Korea agreed to pay for that

00:54during my last term.

00:55And then when Biden came in, they complained to Biden

00:57that I wasn't a nice person.

00:59And he agreed not to pay.

01:01He gave up billions of dollars.

01:03We were getting paid billions of dollars.

01:05But then Biden ended that for whatever reason.

01:09It's unbelievable that he did.

01:11But we have a very good relationship militarily.

01:15They would say, but we gave you land.

01:17And they said, no, you didn't, you lease us land.

01:19There's a big difference between giving and leasing.

01:22And maybe one of the things I'd like to do is ask them

01:25to give us ownership of the land where we have the big fort.

01:28You know, we spent a lot of money building a fort.

01:30And there was a contribution made by South Korea.

01:33But I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease

01:35and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base.

01:40Thank you, Mr. President.

01:45How are you planning to make – I also want to ask this question

01:48to Mr. President, please.

01:49Who are you with?

01:50I'm Song Mi-jin.

01:51I'm from South Korea's Arirang TV.

01:52Good.

01:53Thank you so much.

01:54Good.

01:55So as mentioned earlier, the United States

01:56is South Korea's most important and closest ally.

01:58So in this point of view, I would like to ask you

02:01and also President Lee, what do you think are the key ways

02:04to make the South Korea-U.S. alliance greater?

02:08Well, I think it's great now.

02:10I feel very warmly toward South Korea.

02:13I will tell you that I have a lot of people in business

02:17that I deal with that are from South Korea.

02:19They love Trump because they feel I've saved –

02:22I think you would have had a nuclear war if I weren't.

02:25I think you would have had a nuclear war,

02:27North Korea and South Korea.

02:29I think it would have been a disaster.

02:30You're only 60 miles away from Seoul.

02:32They don't even need nuclear.

02:33They have their cannons, you know, howitzers,

02:35and they have them buried in the mountain.

02:37You know what I'm talking about.

02:39And I think you would have had – if I didn't win that election,

02:43if Hillary Clinton – crooked Hillary – won that election,

02:46I think you would have had a nuclear war.

02:48It would have taken place.

02:49And it would have been horrendous for everybody, including them.

02:53It would have been very bad for them

02:54because we would have had to enter the picture.

02:57And we are the most powerful nuclear country in the world by far.

03:02Russia is second.

03:03China is third.

03:04China is going to catch, eventually, five or six years.

03:06They're working to catch.

03:07One of the things we're trying to do with Russia and with China

03:11is denuclearization.

03:15And it's very important.

03:16One of the things I discussed with President Putin the other day,

03:19it wasn't just that, it was also other things.

03:22And I think the denuclearization is a very – it's a big aim.

03:28But Russia is willing to do it,

03:30and I think China is going to be willing to do it, too.

03:33We can't let nuclear weapons proliferate.

03:37We have to stop nuclear weapons.

03:38The power is too great.

03:40Okay? Thank you.

03:41The Press Press, President, I'd like to ask you further question

03:43about South Korea and U.S. alliance.

03:45I'm Anna from The Korea Times.

03:47And I'd like to ask you about the trade deal that's on the table.

03:52You mentioned about the shipbuilding industry.

03:54And President Lee mentioned about the manufacturing industry.

03:57And what other areas or sectors that you intend to focus on this trade deal?

04:02Because Korea is bringing in many investments and trade jobs.

04:06And so I'd like to know the opinions of both,

04:10how to get a beneficial outcomes for both countries through this deal.

04:15Well, we're going to get along great because we really sort of need each other.

04:21We love what they do.

04:22We love their product.

04:23We love their ships.

04:24We love a lot of the things that they make.

04:27And they love what we have.

04:28We're dealing with them on Alaska having to do with the oil.

04:31They need – you need oil and we have it.

04:34So we have a big advantage in that way.

04:36We have a big – we have more oil and gas and coal and energy

04:39than any other country in the world by far.

04:42For whatever reason, God was very good to us.

04:45He gave us the greatest – we didn't use it.

04:47We started to use wind.

04:49Wind doesn't work.

04:50They started to use solar panels that took over the land all over the Midwest

04:54where the farmers said, what happened to my land?

04:56They'd have a 10-mile-by-10-mile solar field that they couldn't farm.

05:00The most – the most valuable land, farming land in the world,

05:04probably the most vibrant in the world.

05:06And they put solar plants all over the place.

05:08It's ridiculous.

05:09Big, massive black fields of solar that all comes out of China.

05:13Or plastic – all comes out of China.

05:15Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.

05:22Download the One India app now.

05:24See you next time.

05:25See you next time.

05:26Now.

05:27Now.

Category

Transcript

Recommended