트럼프 “한국, 이란전 지원 거절…기억할 것” 압박 카드 시사

President Donald Trump, during a Fox News interview on the 30th, mentioned again that South Korea did not participate in the Iran war, warning that "that is something you need to remember." Rather than merely expressing dissatisfaction with South Korea's refusal to provide support, Trump implied that future US-Korea relations might be affected by the consequences of his refusal.

Speaking on Fox News' "Sunday Night America," Trump claimed that the NATO alliance and other countries, including South Korea, had received "tens of billions of dollars" from the United States for their support. He added, "We have spent tens of billions of dollars on NATO and other countries, including South Korea, to help them."

Trump then criticized countries that receive US support but fail to act in cooperation with the United States, saying, "If they don't stand by you, you can't afford to help them." He specifically referred to South Korea, stating, "They want our help; South Korea, for example, has 40,000 troops there." In reality, there are approximately 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea.

Trump also revealed that he had asked South Korea for assistance with an Iran military operation, mentioning, "I asked South Korea if it would be okay to help a little with the Iran Islamic Republic issue, but they said, 'We'd rather not.'" Trump stressed that this event should be remembered, as he truly believed so. He had previously criticized South Korea for refusing his request for assistance in an Iran military operation on the 16th.

This stance was based on the fact that South Korea imports significant amounts of energy through the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) while not participating in US military operations. Trump's repeated mention of South Korea's support refusal and his assertion that it should not be considered a one-time conflict suggests that this issue may be used as a bargaining chip in future US-Korea relations, including trade and defense spending.