A U.S. senior defense official has stressed that South Korea should pay more for shared defense, while calling on Seoul to renew its military intelligence sharing agreement with Japan. 

David Helvey, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, made the call on Thursday at a security forum hosted by the Institute for Corean-American Studies in Washington. 

Helvey said that U.S. President Donald Trump has stressed fairness in sharing defense costs with allies since the days of his election campaign, adding that the U.S. believes its allies and partners have a duty to make equal contributions. 

Regarding criticism that Washington is demanding excessive hikes from Seoul, Helvey said that defense costs shared by South Korea are not compensation for the U.S., but prices for its own prosperity, noting that Korea's miraculous economic growth and modernization achieved over the past decades are thanks to security and safety. 

Helvey also asked Seoul to renew the General Security of Military Information Agreement with Tokyo, saying that Washington strongly believes that security ties must persist despite difficulties in the relationship between South Korea and Japan.