Former US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert on Friday rejected the notion that South Korea is free-riding on the United States' troop presence in the country, saying the two nations are "very, very strong allies."

Lippert, who served as the last US ambassador to Seoul under former President Barack Obama, made the remark as negotiations on renewing a burden-sharing deal between South Korea and the US got under way this week.
 

US President Donald Trump has made clear that he wants allies to pay more for their defense, portending tough negotiations before the current deal expires at the end of the year.

The new Special Measures Agreement will determine Seoul's contributions to the upkeep of 28,500 American troops in the country.

"I've always said that South Korea is not a free-rider and really are very, very strong allies, especially in the context of burden sharing," Lippert told Yonhap News Agency on the sidelines of a forum on North Korea's economy at George Washington University.

In supporting his case, the former ambassador listed three factors: mandatory military service for all able-bodied South Korean men, South Korea's shouldering of more than 90 percent of the cost of expanding Camp Humphreys, the US' largest overseas military base, and Seoul's increase of defense spending by 4-8 percent each year.

"Those are tangible signs of a real deep partnership in terms of burden-sharing," Lippert said. "I always say that Koreans are among our very best allies across a range of different factors."

Asked what a good outcome would be for the new SMA, Lippert refused to speculate.

"But what I would say, as a believer in the alliance, any and all negotiations ... we should always consult each other in a way that leaves us stronger as an alliance over time," he said. (Yonhap)