opinion

Kim Myong Chol, an international affairs analyst of the DPRK, issued the following article titled "Present situation of the US and the ROK alliance on defence cost sharing negotiations":

Recently, the US 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, an 8.3 percent increase over 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, and others.

A spokesperson for the US Department of State said that the alliance between the US and the ROK has been the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity of 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 defence.

Through the triumphant face of the master who celebrated the early agreement of the negotiations for the defence cost sharing by itself, the world people can feel once again the satisfaction of the US 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 has 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 US forces' presence, payment of local employee wages, and others. Since then, the rising rate has increased steadily and produced the present high figure.

But the US, the master like a famished lion, has forced the sharply increased defence cost sharing, while talking about the "theory of withdrawal of the US forces from the ROK" by opening the "lion's mouth" widely.

The lightning conclusion of the negotiations may be  a good thing for the ROK, which experienced the desperate situation caused  by a tremendous amount of money imposed by its master during the past administration.

However, the present US 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 is still in force for one year.

The US is bent on rallying its followers into new military blocs while reenergizing the bilateral and multilateral alliances led by it, admitting that it cannot prevent alone the rapid growth of the anti-US independent forces that are accelerating the definite change in the international mechanical structure.

In particular, the puppet ROK, which has entrusted its political, economic and military sovereignty entirely to the US, is the "asset" of the latter to easily use in the aspect of carrying out its long-term strategy to contain the DPRK and its neighbouring countries and maintain the hegemony in the region. 

The present US 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 US in its defence of the ROK and to keep using it as a shock brigade in establishing the US-led "free order" by impressing the stooges.

The ROK groups were keen on the new agreement on cost sharing, based on 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 much 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 US forced the ROK to include in the defence cost sharing the expense for the deployment of the US strategic assets and for the maintenance of THAAD under the pretext of protecting the ROK clearly shows the true picture of the US-style mode of dealing.

Demanding the revision of the "note on crisis control of the US-ROK alliance" in 2019, the US insisted that the range of the alliance's crisis control should be revised  to include  not only "contingency of the Korean peninsula" but also "contingency of the US." In this regard, the "expense for supporting the US forces in the ROK for contributing to the defence of the Korean peninsula" which included the US-ROK "special agreement on defence cost sharing" cannot exclude the possibility of being diverted to the fulfilment of duty in Taiwan and other regions outside the Korean peninsula anytime in the future, pursuant to the US Indo-Pacific strategy and its policy of bolstering strategic flexibility.

This eloquently proves that the defence cost sharing between the US and the ROK, which was limited to the upkeep of the US forces in the ROK, can be expended in a multi-purpose way for implementing the US strategy for hegemony and that the increasing rate of the defence cost sharing from the ROK side is bound to assume a steep ascending curve.

The negotiations on defence cost sharing, which were concluded hastily, are 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 running dog by showing them "magnanimity" and "good will" and imposing a huge amount of money on them continuously.

The conclusion of the negotiations shows that there can be no change in the basic attribute of the subordinate and unequal relations between the master and the servant, no matter how much the relations between the US and the ROK are beautified with flattering word of "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 US forces' presence in it as a deserted woman. This fatalistic situation clearly shows the weakness of the US-ROK alliance advertising the "supreme blood alliance" and "true friendly relations".

This is the present situation of the US-ROK alliance, intertwined with mutual deception and pursuit of self-interest, and the fair evaluation of the world people.