Mon Oct 14 20:23:09 UTC 2024: ## North Korea Condemns South Korea’s Increased Cost-Sharing for US Forces as “Servitude”

**Pyongyang, North Korea:** North Korea has slammed South Korea’s agreement to increase its share of the cost of hosting American forces by 8.3%, labelling it a sign of Seoul’s subservience to the United States.

In an article published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), international affairs analyst Kim Myong Chol described the recent cost-sharing agreement as a testament to the “subordinating and unequal relations” between the “master” (US) and the “servant” (South Korea).

The agreement, which covers the period from 2026 to 2030, will see South Korea contribute 1.52 trillion won ($1.14 billion) annually towards the deployment of US forces, an increase of 8.3% from the previous agreement.

North Korea claimed that South Korea is being used as a pawn in the US’s strategy to contain North Korea and maintain its dominance in the region, forcing South Koreans to pay “huge blood taxes” to support the “luxurious life” of US troops.

The article further highlighted South Korea’s dependence on the US for security, pointing out that the cost-sharing negotiations coincided with the upcoming US presidential election. This, according to North Korea, exposes the fragility of the South Korea-US alliance.

The US military currently maintains a presence of 28,500 personnel in South Korea, deployed to deter aggression from North Korea.

While the US State Department has yet to comment on the North Korean allegations, they have previously stressed the importance of the cost-sharing agreement in strengthening the alliance and shared defense between the two countries.

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