Trump pressures S. Korea in his State of the Union address

On Tuesday local time, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union Address where he said, “We are also finally getting our allies to help pay their fair share,” reaffirming Washington’s stance on defense cost sharing. He made no mention of North Korea, which has led to speculations that Pyongyang has been deprioritized in the run up to the presidential election.

“I have raised contributions from the other NATO members by more than $400 billion, and the number of allies meeting their minimum obligations has more than doubled,” President Trump emphasized in the speech he gave on Capital Hill in Washington D.C. with the theme "the great American comeback." The United States is currently negotiating the defense cost sharing scheme with South Korea and will start the talks with Japan as early as late this year.

President Trump did not address North Korea as he mentioned a series of pressing foreign policy issues including issues related to Iran, the ISIS, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Cuba. This was the first of his three State of the Union addresses that had no mention of Pyongyang. It appears that the decision has been made based on months of a stalemate between the two countries and the upcoming presidential election.


lightee@donga.com