Trump’s NATO remarks spark concerns from Europe, East Asia

트럼프 ’나토 발언’ 일파만파 “한미일 삼각공조는 다를 것“ Good evening. Thank you for joining us. I’m Yoon Jung-min. We begin with controversial comments from a former U.S. president seeking re-election. GOP front-runner Donald Trump says he would encourage the Russia invasion of any NATO member that fails to meet defense spending guidelines. This stirs concerns in Europe, and raises a question about what this could mean for South Korea and other U.S. allies in Asia. Our foreign affairs correspondent Bae Eun-ji starts us off. Donald Trump, who’s running for another term in the White House, told NATO members that they would need to pay their dues, if they want military assistance from the United States. At a campaign rally in South Carolina on Saturday, he recounted what he described was a conversation with the president of a “big country.“ “I said, ’You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said, ’Yes, let’s say that happened. ’No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the XXXX they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.’ “ The remarks come on the back of a NATO report released last year, which showed that only 11 of the then-30 member alliance were spending 2-percent of GDP or more on defense. And the comments drew immense criticism from European leaders. “Any relativisation of NATO’s guarantee of assistance is irresponsible and dangerous and is solely in Russia’s interests. Nobody should play or trade with Europe’s security.“ Trump’s latest comments have also raised concerns from South Korea, amid speculations that a second presidency would mean a grim outcome for the security of East Asian nations, as well as a possible withdrawal of American troops from Korea. But, the former U.S. special representative for North Korea, Sung Kim highlighted the need for trilateral cooperation, regardless of what happens in the presidential election in November. During a forum hosted by the CSIS, a think tank in Washington, he said South Korea and Japan are expected to play a more active role, noting that it’s critical that the three governments continue to focus on strengthening their extended deterrence cooperation. Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News. #UnitedStates #Russia #DonaldTrump #NATO #Europe #East_Asia #미국 #도널드트럼프 #러시아 #유럽 #아시아 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-02-13, 18:00 (KST)