Cost tolerance and South Korean public perceptions of the US military presence

Abstract

ABSTRACT What explains South Korean public perceptions of the US military presence in their country? Most estimates place South Korea’s share of the military costs at around 41%. In 2020, the Trump administration pushed for South Korea to pay five times more than previous agreements, while the Biden administration in 2021 ultimately settled on a 14% increase. However, previous research has not directly tackled whether the public is cost-sensitive to the US presence nor what percentage of the costs the public deems as fair. Through original survey data with an embedded experiment, we identify that public support of the need for American military assistance declined when framed in terms of demands that South Korea pay more. However, we find that the perceived appropriate cost share and overall views of the US military presence were not influenced by demands for a higher cost-share.