After Trump’s Demand, South Korea Signs Deal to Pay More for US Troops

South Korea will pay $60 million more for the upkeep of U.S. troops on its territory—this after President Donald Trump demanded that Seoul boost its contribution. The two nations inked a short-term deal on Feb. 10 increasing South Korea’s annual bill by 6.75 percent to $890 million. On the campaign trail, Trump promised American voters he would fight to secure fair deals for the United States on the world stage. America’s NATO allies have boosted military spending by $100 billion after similar demands from Trump.

The South Korean Parliament has to approve the agreement before it becomes final. Unlike prior deals, which have lasted five years, the one signed on Feb. 10 expires in one year. Bargaining for 2020 funding is likely to restart in months. “It has been a very long process, but ultimately a very successful process,” South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said at a meeting before another official from the foreign ministry signed the agreement.

The U.S. State Department’s senior adviser for security negotiations and agreements, Timothy Betts, met Kang before signing the agreement on behalf of the United States and told her the money represented a small but important part of South Korea’s support for the alliance. “The United States government realizes that South Korea does a lot for our alliance and for peace and stability in this region,” he said.

About 70 percent of South Korea’s payment funds the salaries of some 8,700 South Korean workers who provide administrative, technical, and other services for the U.S. military. Late last year, the U.S. military had warned the South Korean employees on its bases that they may be put on leave from mid-April if no agreement was reached. Seoul and Washington have held 10 rounds of talks since March, amid Trump’s calls for South Korea to pay more. South Korean officials pushed for a three-year deal keeping their annual contribution around $864 million. U.S. officials demanded as much as $1.2 billion per year. The allies worked to finalize an agreement in order to minimize the impact on South Koreans working on U.S. military bases, and focus on nuclear talks ahead of a second U.S.-North Korea summit, Seoul officials said. On Feb. 10, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that the United States had affirmed it would not be changing the scale of its troop presence.

During his annual State of the Union Address on Feb. 5, Trump announced that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a second time on Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam. The two leaders held their first unprecedented meeting in June last year in Singapore. The Singapore summit resulted in a joint agreement in which Kim committed to denuclearize his nation, pursue peace with South Korea, establish relations with the United States, and repatriate the remains of American soldiers. After the meeting, Trump suspended major joint military exercises with South Korea. Since the summit, Pyongyang has not tested any nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. South Korean President Moon Jae-in plans to discuss the upcoming summit with Trump soon, according to a spokesman from the Blue House. The spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom, also confirmed that officials from Pyongyang and Washington plan to meet next week in an unspecified Asian country.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/after-trumps-demand-south-korea-signs-deal-to-pay-more-for-u-s-troops_2795900.html

Supporters of Border Security Form ‘Human Wall’ Along US-Mexico Border

A group advocates of President Donald Trump’s vision for increased security along the U.S. southern border joined hands in New Mexico along the U.S.-Mexico border. They were physically showing their support for the construction of a border wall. The demonstrators waved flags and held signs such as “STOP the drugs destroying our youth” at a location along the partially fenced border in Sunland Park, New Mexico, just across the line from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico’s Chihuahua State, Fox News reported.

Footage shared by True Conservatives Minutes (TCM) featured an organizer addressing the crowd through a megaphone, asking “Do you feel it’s right that these gentlemen have to kiss their families every night potentially it being their last night for them because of this?” referring to border patrol agents working along a section of the border without a barrier. The crowd replied “No!” One of the demonstrators cited by Reuters said the reason we are here is to call attention to the problems caused by a lack of border security. “We are here to bring attention to that fact that there isn’t a wall here,” said Anthony Aguero, a resident from El Paso, Texas, adding, ” We have to secure our nation and at the same time we are securing the nation, all of these people will be able to live in peace because all the drug and human trafficking that passes through here won’t happen here. They will have to find somewhere else.” The demonstrators also chanted “USA! USA!” and “Build the wall! Build the wall!

They then assembled their “human wall” in an apparent reference to a Feb. 5 message shared by Trump in a tweet saying his administration was prepared to “build a Human Wall if necessary” to protect the nation from illegal immigration. “We’re all going to meet hand in hand, we’re all going to stand for about 45 minutes next to each other in honor of our 45th president and leading the efforts of securing the wall,” an organizer featured in the TCM report said, as footage showed people forming a human wall.

Trump cited “Tremendous numbers” of people entering the United States through Mexico as the reason for his “human wall” pledge, noting that additional troops have been deployed to deal with the situation. The “human wall” demonstration comes just days ahead of Trump’s expected first campaign rally of the year Monday at the El Paso County Coliseum, a Texas arena in close proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/supporters-of-border-security-form-human-wall-along-us-mexico-border_2795853.html