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US Analysts See Risks in Military Spending Showdown With Seoul

Natalie Liu

   Washington-based Korea experts will be closely watching the next round
   of defense cost-sharing talks between the United States and South
   Korea, concerned that the strains being placed on the alliance could
   prove to be a windfall for America's adversaries.

   The negotiations are scheduled to resume in the South Korean capital
   this month, with Seoul so far showing little willingness to accept U.S.
   demands for a fivefold increase in what it pays toward the cost of
   maintaining 28,500 American troops on its territory--from roughly $1
   billion to $5 billion annually. A fourth round of talks ended Wednesday
   in Washington with no sign the two sides have inched closer to an
   agreement.

   "Any friction between Washington and Seoul will be welcome in
   Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow," said David Maxwell, a senior fellow
   with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and longtime observer of
   U.S.-Korean affairs. Those countries, he said, need merely to "follow
   the dictum of Napoleon: Do not interrupt your enemy when he is making a
   mistake."

   The concern is compounded by the possibility of closer relations
   between South Korea and China. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in
   Seoul this week for high-level talks seen as paving the way for a
   possible visit to South Korea by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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