according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Japan pays about 38 percent of the cost to keep U.S. forces in Japan, while nearby Seoul pays around 30 percent of the bill to keep 28,500 American troops in Korea.2 However, while South Korea spent a healthy 2.7 percent of its GDP on defense, Tokyo spends no more than 1 percent. I thought it should be at least 2 percent. This was an issue I would often raise with the Japanese given the increasing challenges we faced from China, especially in the East China Sea.
