2024.10.12.
Kim Myong Chol, an international affairs analyst of the DPRK, issued the following article titled "Present situation of the U.S.-ROK alliance on defence cost sharing negotiations":
Recently, the U.S. and the ROK concluded the negotiations for signing the 12th special agreement on defence cost sharing which had been held since April.
According to it, the ROK is expected to bear about 1 130 million US dollars, 8.3 percent above the previous year, in 2026, the first year of the agreement. And they agreed to adjust the annual rate of increase in the next four years in reflection of consumers’ price index, etc.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said that the alliance between the U.S. and the ROK has been the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity for Northeast Asia, the broader Indo-Pacific region, and beyond, adding that the agreement will be a significant accomplishment for both sides, and will strengthen their alliance and their shared defense.
Through the triumphant face of the master who celebrated the early agreement of the negotiation for the defence cost sharing by itself, the world people can feel once again the satisfaction of the U.S. forces in the ROK who will lead a luxurious life while receiving a huge amount of money on the pretext of defending the other state’s security and the servility of the poor colonial stooge who have to beg for security while paying huge blood taxes collected from the people.
Since 1991, the ROK has been charged with the construction of bases for the U.S. forces’ presence, payment of local employee wages, etc. Since then, the rising rate has increased steadily and produced the present high figure.
But the U.S., the master like a famished lion, has forced the sharply increased defence cost sharing, while talking about the "theory of withdrawal of the U.S. forces from the ROK" by opening the "lion’s mouth" widely.
The lightning conclusion of the negotiation is a good thing for the ROK, which experienced the desperate situation by tremendous amount of money imposed by its master during the past administration.
However, the present U.S. administration, which is near the end of its term, hastily concluded the negotiations with its sinister purpose though the 11th "special agreement on the defence cost sharing" concluded in 2021 will be expired one year later.
The U.S. is bent on rallying its followers into new military blocs while reenergizing its-led bilateral and multilateral alliances, claiming that it cannot prevent the rapid growth of the anti-U.S. independent forces that are accelerating the definite change in the international mechanical structure by itself.
In particular, the puppet ROK entrusts its political, economic and military sovereignty to the U.S. in the aspect of carrying out its long-term strategy to contain the DPRK and its neighboring countries and maintain the hegemony in the region. The ROK is the U.S. "asset" to easily use for its strategy.
The present U.S. administration admitted that it "fairly" set the cost sharing. This is a revelation of its sinister intention to emphasize the firm commitment made by the U.S. in its defence of the ROK and to keep using it as a shock brigade in establishing the U.S.-led "free order" by thrilling the stooges.
The ROK groups were keen on the new agreement on cost sharing in the light of their smart calculation to meet their interests to the maximum with the present chief executive who seems to be easy to deal with before the master of the White House is replaced.
However, how can the agreement which was made based on the far-fetched magnanimity of the master with a half heart to appease its dispirited ally and the selfish purpose of its servant contribute to the security of the ROK?
The precedent that the U.S. forced to include in the defence cost sharing the expense for the deployment of the U.S. strategic assets and for the maintenance of THAAD under the pretext of protecting the ROK clearly shows the true picture of the U.S.-style mode of dealing.
Demanding the revision of the "note on crisis control of the U.S.-ROK alliance" in 2019, the U.S. insisted that the range of the alliance’s crisis control should be revised not only "in contingency of the Korean peninsula" but also "in contingency of the U.S." In this regard, the "expense for supporting the U.S. forces in the ROK for contributing to the defence of the Korean peninsula" which included the U.S.-ROK "special negotiation on defence cost sharing" can not preclude the possibility of being diverted to the accomplishment of duty in Taiwan and other regions of the Korean peninsula anytime in the future, pursuant to the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy and its policy of bolstering strategic flexibility.
This eloquently proves that the defence cost sharing between the U.S. and the ROK, which was limited to the upkeep of the U.S. forces in the ROK, can be expended in a multi-purpose way for implementing the U.S. strategy for hegemony and that the increasing rate of the defence cost sharing from the ROK side is bound to be drawn a steep ascending curve.
The negotiation on defence cost sharing, which was concluded hastily, is a product of the political and strategic calculation and sinister scheme of the empire of evils to use the ROK puppets, who are at greater risk of security uneasiness and future danger of huge cost sharing, as a shock brigade for carrying out the strategy for world supremacy while more tightly seizing them as a faithful watchdog by showing "magnanimity" and "good will" and imposing huge amount of money on them continuously.
The conclusion of the negotiation shows that there can be no change in the basic attribute of the subordinating and unequal relations between the master and the servant, no matter how much the relations between the U.S. and the ROK are beautified with flattering words "alliance".
Whenever the master of the White House is replaced, the puppet ROK has to be seized with uneasiness over various issues ranging from security and economy to the cost of the U.S. forces’ presence in it as a deserted woman. This fatalistic situation clearly shows the weakness of the U.S.-ROK alliance advertising the "supreme blood alliance" and "true friendly relations".
This is the present situation of the U.S.-ROK alliance, intertwined with mutual deception and selfish pursuit of benefit, and the fair evaluation of the world people.
Rodong Sinmun