South Korea last year provided about $830 million, covering roughly 40 per cent of the cost of the deployment of 28,500 U.S. soldiers whose presence is meant to deter aggression from North Korea. President Donald Trump has pushed for South Korea to pay more. Trump told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Feb. 3 that he has no plans to withdraw troops from South Korea. Trump’s top envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, visited Pyongyang last week to work out details of the upcoming summit. Most U.S. troops were withdrawn in 1949 but they returned the next year to fight alongside South Korea in the Korean War.

Source: National Post February 10, 2019 06:26 UTC