President Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday that talks have started with South Korea about hiking its payment to the US for keeping American forces on the peninsula.

“Talks have begun to further increase payments to the United States. South Korea is a very wealthy nation that now feels an obligation to contribute to the military defense provided by the United States of America,” he said in a Twitter posting. “The relationship between the two countries is a very good one!”

The president noted that Seoul has paid $990 million for its share of the defense costs of keeping the more than 28,000 American troops stationed in South Korea.

He said South Korea “has agreed to pay substantially more money to the United States in order to defend itself from North Korea.”

Seoul and Washington agreed in February that it would pay $924 million – an increase of about $70.3 million – but that agreement was expected to expire in a year’s time.

Trump’s tweet comes as North Korea on Wednesday said the launch of “new-type tactical guided missiles” was meant as a warning to the US and South Korea for conducting joint military exercises this week.

North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un supervised Tuesday’s launches – the fourth in the last two weeks.

The rockets were fired from the western part of North Korea and flew over the peninsula before they “precisely hit the targeted islet” in the Sea of Japan off the country’s east coast, state media reported.

North Korea has routinely condemned the military exercises as a rehearsal for invading the Hermit Kingdom.

Newly installed Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the military operations would proceed as planned.

“We need to maintain our readiness and making sure that we’re prepared,” Esper said, according to a transcript released by the Pentagon on Wednesday.

​With Post wires​