U.S. Base Workers Set for Furlough in Blow to South Korea Alliance
- About 4,000 civilian workers told not report as of Wednesday
- Seoul resists Trump’s demands for steep funding increase
Photographer: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
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The U.S. military is set to put almost half of its 8,500 South Korean civilian workers on furlough, as the two sides bicker over the Trump administration’s demands for a massive increase in troop funding.
About 4,000 workers have been told not to report to American military bases in South Korea as of Wednesday, if the two countries can’t find some way to extend a cost-sharing deal that expired Dec. 31. A breakthrough seems unlikely with President Donald Trump asking for as much as a five-fold increase and South Korea showing no signs of paying anywhere near that much.