October 16, 2020 09:51
The defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. on Wednesday clashed over key issues like sharing the cost of maintaining 28,500 American troops in Korea.
Their joint statement at the end of their talks did not include the phrase "maintain the current level of the U.S. military personnel" in Korea, and a scheduled joint press conference of Defense Minister Suh Wook and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was canceled at the last minute.
Discord is also becoming more evident on issues like U.S. pressure on Korea to join the anti-Chinese Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or "Quad" which includes Australia, India and Japan.