Deconstructing US-South Korean relationship

The United States broke off talks with South Korea on Tuesday over how to share the cost of the two nations’ military alliance, injecting fresh tension into the relationship over Washington’s demands that Seoul pay sharply more. President Trump has demanded South Korea raise fivefold its contribution to cover the cost of stationing 28,500 U.S. troops in the country, asking for nearly $5 billion, officials on both sides said.

  WAPo

So, is Trump angling to remove troops and leave South Korea and Japan to fend for themselves against North Korea?

The top U.S. negotiator, James DeHart, said the U.S. side decided to cut short the negotiations on Tuesday morning, the second of two days of planned talks.

[...]

This year, South Korea agreed to pay about $890 million toward the cost of stationing U.S. troops in the country, a little more than 40 percent of the day-to-day expenses. It also provides land for bases rent-free, paid more than 90 percent of the $10.7 billion cost of moving the main U.S. base out of Seoul, and buys significant amounts of U.S. military equipment.

But Trump insists that South Korea, as a “very wealthy nation,” needs to pay more. His demand for up to $5 billion would imply South Korea was effectively not only being asked to cover local costs but also the entire wage bill for the U.S. troops.

[...]

On Sunday, the allies announced they were postponing planned joint air drills to save a faltering dialogue process with North Korea. But negotiator Jeong said there had been no discussion of reducing the U.S. troop presence in the country.

Yet.

Last week, a group of 47 left-leaning South Korean lawmakers issued a statement condemning the Trump administration’s approach to the negotiations and arguing that Seoul needed to become self-reliant for its national defense.

[...]

Seoul and Washington aim to reach a new cost-sharing deal by the end of this year, when the current agreement expires. The Trump administration is set to begin separate defense funding negotiations with Japan and NATO next year.

I guess they know what to expect at least.  Can you call it negotiations when one side makes an outrageously high demand and then walks out?