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South Korean diagnostic kits await shipment to the US at the cargo terminal of Incheon International Airport on Apr. 15. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper applied additional pressure on South Korea on Apr. 14 to pay a larger share of defense costs, calling it a “wealthy country.” His remarks were made in connection with the 11th South Korea-US Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing. Negotiators have reportedly been unable to reach a final deal due to the last-minute complications created by US President Donald Trump. As it happens, the same day saw an aircraft take off for the US carrying enough South Korean novel coronavirus diagnostic kits for 600,000 tests as requested by Trump. In a Twitter message, US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris wrote, “The #USROKAlliance is ironclad and we’re grateful.”

In a Defense Department briefing that day, Esper was asked about a recent Reuters report stating that South Korea had proposed increasing its defense contribution by at least 13% compared to the previous year. While he said he would defer to the State Department as the agency leading the negotiations, he added that he had been very clear about the US position on the issue.

“My view remains that South Korea is a close and trusted ally of ours, but they're a wealthy country,” he said.

“They can and should pay more to help for our mutual defense and their specific defense,” he continued.

Esper’s remarks were interpreted as applying pressure on South Korea to increase its share at a time when the two sides have been able to reach a final agreement. While procedures toward a provisional deal on the defense cost-sharing agreement were initiated late last month, the plan was rejected at the last minute by Trump. With South Korea having already named the maximum amount it is willing to offer, the negotiations seem likely to remain adrift barring some dramatic shift in momentum. Some 4,000 South Korean workers with US Forces Korea (USFK) were placed on unpaid furlough on Apr. 1 amid the delay in reaching an agreement. The South Korean government is currently working to enact a special law to provide the workers with support from the South Korean budget.

The same day that the US was pressuring to increase South Korea’s share of defense costs, the South Korean government exported a priority shipment of 600,000 South Korean coronavirus diagnostic kits as a gesture at the alliance level.

“Diagnostic kits from two of three companies for which export contracts were concluded upon prior approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) left for the US on a cargo plane early in the morning on Apr. 15,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The US has nearly 600,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with a death toll exceeding 23,000. In addition to diagnostic kits, it is also facing shortages of hand sanitizer, masks, and other disease prevention items.

The exportation comes three weeks after Trump requested assistance with diagnostic kits in a Mar. 24 telephone conversation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. A senior Trump administration official said that the US was grateful to its South Korean partners for assisting Americans by helping the US acquire diagnostic kits. In a Twitter message, Harris wrote, “The #USROKAlliance is ironclad and we're grateful to @mofa_kr for helping make this purchase by @fema [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] possible.”

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

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