Media warn of ‘Trump risk’ to alliance

SEOUL: South Korean media on Monday warned of a “Trump risk” threatening the alliance between Washington and Seoul amid high tensions over the North’s weapons ambitions.

The two countries are bound by a defence pact and 28,500 US troops are stationed in the South.

But the new US president has said in recent interviews that Seoul should pay for a “billion-dollar” US missile defence system being deployed in the South to guard against threats from the nucleararmed North.

He has also pushed for renegotiation of what he called a “horrible” bilateral free trade pact that went into effect five years ago, calling it an “unacceptable... deal made by Hillary”.

The remarks stunned Seoul, with South Korean politicians immediately rejecting his push for payment for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.

Tensions are high over the North’s nuclear and missile programmes — it has ambitions to develop a rocket that can deliver a warhead to the US mainland — and threats on both sides have raised fears of conflict.

“Trump’s mouth rattling KoreaUS alliance” said a front-page headline in South Korea’s top-selling Chosun daily on Monday.

“There are issues that are far more important than just money,” it said in an editorial. — AFP