If Trump meets with North Korea's Kim again, who will foot the bill? 

South Korea could face a hefty bill if U.S.-North Korea talks resume, with U.S. President Donald Trump likely to lead negotiations with Pyongyang while pushing Seoul to shoulder much of the cost of any economic assistance to North Korea. This has also raised questions over how much South Korea may have to pay for a seat at the negotiating table.

Trump has repeatedly said that South Korea and other neighboring countries should bear the cost of providing economic assistance to North Korea.

Ahead of his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June 2018, Trump met then-President Moon Jae-in at the White House in May 2018 and stressed that the United States had spent trillions of dollars on South Korea. He then said South Korea, China and Japan would invest very large sums of money to help North Korea.

After meeting Kim Yong-chol, then vice chairman of North Korea's Workers' Party, in June that year, Trump said South Korea “will do that” when discussing economic aid for North Korea.

At a news conference following the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore, Trump was asked who would bear the cost of denuclearization and said South Korea and Japan “will help them greatly” and that the United States “won't have to help.”

Trump took a similar position after the Hanoi summit ended without a deal in February 2019. After naming South Korea, China and Japan as countries that could provide economic assistance to North Korea, Trump turned to the cost of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.

“It costs us $100 million every time we do it,” Trump said, adding that South Korea should help.

Trump's transactional approach of seeking to reduce the U.S. burden while demanding greater contributions from allies has become even more pronounced in his second term. He has strongly pressured the NATO members to increase defense spending. His focus on the costs borne by the United States when he ordered a reduction in joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises on Aug. 16 reflects the same approach.

Some observers say Trump could demand that South Korea shoulder more of the cost of supporting North Korea, particularly given his preference for keeping Seoul out of direct U.S.-North Korea negotiations. During the Panmunjom meeting in June 2019, Moon met Trump and Kim at the site but did not participate in the subsequent one-on-one talks between the United States and North Korea.

“Trump wanted Moon nowhere around,” John Bolton, the former U.S. national security adviser, wrote in his memoir “The Room Where It Happened,” which he published the following year.

That raises the possibility that South Korea could be asked to pay a higher admission fee to secure a place in future U.S.-North Korea negotiations.

There is also precedent for the United States and North Korea reaching an agreement while South Korea picked up much of the bill. Under the 1994 U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework, Korea agreed to shoulder $3.2 billion, or 70 percent, of the $4.6 billion cost of a light-water reactor project. The project was ultimately abandoned, leaving South Korea with losses of about $1.1 billion from its investment.

“Just because South Korea volunteers to serve as a pacemaker does not mean Trump will simply give it a seat at the negotiating table,” a former senior diplomatic official said. “There is a strong possibility that South Korea will have to shoulder substantial costs, including economic assistance for North Korea.”

BY YOON JI-WON [[email protected]]