North Korea fired two short-range missiles in the sea on Tuesday in military tests that Pyongyang confirmed on Wednesday were a warning to the U.S. and South Korea as the two nations began joint military exercises. | Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo defense Trump: South Korea agreed to pay U.S. more to defend from North Korea

President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced South Korea “has agreed to pay substantially more money” to the U.S. government “to defend itself” from Kim Jong Un’s regime in North Korea, which harbors nuclear ambitions and has escalated regional tensions with a series of recent missile launches.

“Over the past many decades, the U.S. has been paid very little by South Korea, but last year, at the request of President Trump, South Korea paid $990,000,000,” Trump wrote on Twitter.


“Talks have begun to further increase payments to the United States,” he continued in another post. “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. The relationship between the two countries is a very good one!”

The South Korean Embassy in Washington did not immediately return an email seeking confirmation of the payment agreement announced by Trump.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles early Tuesday into the sea, a provocation that Kim’s government confirmed Wednesday was meant to serve as a warning to the U.S. and South Korea as the two countries begin joint military exercises this week.

That launch marked the fourth round of weapons tests by North Korea in two weeks. Trump has largely brushed off the demonstrations amid an apparent standstill in nuclear negotiations with Kim, tweeting Friday that the “missiles tests are not a violation” of talks between the two leaders or the agreement reached during their Singapore summit in June 2018.

“Chariman Kim has a great and beautiful vision for his country, and only the United States, with me as President, can make that vision come true,” Trump wrote online. “He will do the right thing because he is far too smart not to, and he does not want to disappoint his friend, President Trump!”

The president has long complained that the U.S. bears too much of the financial burden for its overseas military deployments and has previously singled out South Korea specifically as a nation that should pay more for the thousands of American troops stationed there.

Trump has similarly prodded NATO members for a greater contribution, threatening to pull out of the trans-Atlantic military alliance if other states continue to spend less than the agreed upon 2 percent of their respective gross domestic products on defense.