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The last U.S. defense secretary of the Trump administration revealed in a recent memoir that Trump actually pressured the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Korea while he was in office.



Former President Trump is aiming for re-election in the next US presidential election to be held two years later.



<Reporter>



Two years ago, Washington DC was filled with protesters outraged by the murder of George Floyd.



Former President Trump eventually ordered the deployment of the military, but former Defense Secretary Esper refused.



[Esper/Former Secretary of Defense: Former President Trump asked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Can you just shoot protesters or just shoot them in the legs?]



Angry ex-President Trump tweeted he was fired shortly after the election. .



Former Secretary of State Esper, in his memoir 'The Sacred Oath', after two years, exposed every detail of the defense secrets of the Trump era.



In an interview with SBS, he confessed that it is true that former President Trump put pressure on many times during the defense cost-sharing negotiation process, saying that Koreans are terrible to deal with, discussing the withdrawal of US forces from Korea.



[Esper/Former US Defense Secretary: The view of former President Trump was that South Korea did not pay its fair share.

The United States provides security, but it is unfair for South Korea to sell TVs to the United States.]



Former President Trump said he would raise South Korea's defense cost-sharing by 400% to a maximum of $5 billion per year, but even he confessed that he did not know the basis for the calculation.



[Esper/Former US Secretary of Defense: I do not know.

I think it was all from the White House all of a sudden.

I also thought it was a very surprising number.] In



the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, he emphasized that the presence of US forces in Korea is essential to contain North Korea as well as China, which is competing strategically.



[Esper/Former US Defense Secretary: It is important that the US military is stationed on the Korean Peninsula.

It is important not only for Korea, but also for the United States.

For that reason, I opposed the withdrawal of US forces from Korea.]



He also argued that economically developed countries such as South Korea, Japan and Germany need to raise their defense cost-sharing to the level of paying half that of the United States.



[Esper/Former U.S. Defense Secretary: I think the starting point for important economies such as South Korea, Japan, and Germany is to pay the defense cost-sharing equally in half.]



Former Secretary of State Esper said that former President Trump will be re-elected in the next presidential election in 2024. He predicted that if he came to power, there would be a possibility of actually pushing for the withdrawal of US troops from Korea.



[Esper/Former U.S. Defense Secretary: If President Trump is re-elected, I think there is a real possibility that South Korea will try to withdraw U.S. forces from Korea unless South Korea actively engages in defense cost-sharing negotiations.]



Esper said he wanted to resign mid-term, but he stayed in office to uphold the Constitution and prevented Trump's wrong decision.



[Esper/Former U.S. Secretary of Defense: (Why didn't you get as strong as you are now while in the Trump administration?) If I had raised my voice then, I would have been fired immediately.

If you get fired, who knows?

Maybe there are only 10,000 USFK troops on the Korean Peninsula right now.] While



former President Trump is constantly seeking to expand his political influence for a comeback, President Biden's approval rating, who returned from a tour of Asia with rising prices and the milk powder crisis, is increasing. It was at an all-time low.



(Video coverage: Park Eun-ha, video editing: Lee Seung-yeol)