Trump "Republic of Korea is a machine with money"...The true intention of the defense bomb. [Y transcript]

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Cho Byung-je, professor of the Institute for Far East Studies at Kyungnam University

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News Special Report-2024 U.S. Choice] when quoting.

◇Anchor> Wasn't Korea also paying great attention to President Trump's remarks on the issue of defense cost sharing? You're talking about Korea as a rich country and a machine with money, what do you think about your future?

◆Jo Byeongje> There were two topics that Trump has been talking about in relation to Korea. One was the issue of defense cost sharing that you just talked about and the other was the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea, but President Trump has shown very persistent interest in defense cost sharing. During Trump's presidency, he suddenly told us in 2017 to increase it by five times and pay $5 billion, but that was a good compromise then. Even after I left office, I didn't forget this $5 billion number, and I kept talking about it every time I met people. And we continued to complain that Korea lived well and did not treat the U.S. Forces in Korea properly, and not long ago, after we concluded the defense cost sharing, we talked about that. If I were you, I would have just received 10 billion dollars, and I've been showing very persistent interest in Korea because I talked about it again like this. However, we need to see how this will affect us in the future. Trump didn't hesitate to make a promise and break it when he felt it was against us. If you look at it in the long run, the Climate Change Convention, it just left. Then the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP, didn't do it. I quit everything I didn't like on the spot. Didn't the Korea-US FTA also revised it by turning on even when Trump entered the country? So, I think there is a high possibility that there will be more talks in the future about this defense cost share.

◇Anchor> 100 dollars a year is about 13.6 trillion won, so isn't it about 9 times the amount we already agreed to pay in 2026? What should we do if you really ask for this?

◆Jo Byeongje> I'm sure Trump knows it well. There was a story like that while Trump was in office. There was a saying that Trump presented a formula that said he would receive 50% plus the cost of stationing troops abroad. It hasn't been done since Trump, but Trump's aides later said that Trump talked about it, so Trump sees this defense cost-sharing issue in terms of a little transactional. And you'll know a little bit. You probably know that what we're asking for is not normal, it's a fairly inflated amount, so the key will be how we can keep Trump's position alive and respond to the right extent, but in our view, Trump, it's really a sham, but Trump's remarks like that work for Trump's supporters in the United States. Since Trump is a self-centered person and a very patriotic person, I think we need a strategy to help him live up to his self-esteem and show how much Korea is doing to defend itself.

Excerpted from the conversation: Lee Mi-young, editor of the digital news team

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