By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump has said he wants Washington to take ownership of the land on which American military bases in South Korea are located, rather than continuing to lease it from Seoul.

Speaking on Monday alongside South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, Trump argued that the United States has poured vast sums into infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula and maintains “over 40,000 troops” there, yet the land remains legally under Seoul’s control.

“Maybe one of the things I’d like to do is ask them to give us ownership of the land where we have the big fort,” Trump said. “I would like to see if we could get rid of the lease and get ownership of the land where we have a massive military base.”

Trump did not clarify which “fort” he meant. The largest US installation, Camp Humphreys, was completed in 2018 after a decade-long relocation project funded by both governments.

Under current agreements, the US operates its overseas bases through long-term leases and Status of Forces treaties, which grant Washington operational control but preserve sovereignty for the host nation.

Despite Trump’s claim of “over 40,000 troops,” current estimates place the American military presence at around 28,500 personnel — one of the largest US contingents abroad, after Japan and Germany.

Trump also criticized President Joe Biden for reversing an earlier deal under which Seoul had agreed to contribute billions of dollars toward the upkeep of US troops.

“We were getting paid billions of dollars. But then Biden ended that for whatever reason,” Trump said, calling the decision “unbelievable.”

His remarks align with his long-standing position that US allies must shoulder more of the financial and strategic costs of what he describes as American “protection”.

Throughout both his first and current terms, he has pressed NATO members and Asian partners to expand defense budgets and warned that US taxpayers should not carry what he calls a “disproportionate burden.”

The South Korean president has yet to respond to Trump’s comments. North Korea, meanwhile, has consistently denounced the US presence as an occupation force and labeled joint US-South Korean drills as preparations for invasion.