More than a dozen South Korean college students and activists have been taken into custody after infiltrating the residence of the U.S. ambassador in protest of Washington’s demand to sharply increase Seoul’s cost burden for keeping U.S. troops in the country.  

According to police, 16 members of the activists’ group called univjinbo held a rally in the front yard of U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris’s residence in central Seoul after scaling the wall using a ladder. 

They opposed the alleged demand by Washington to increase Seoul’s military cost sharing by five times, calling it a threat and interference in internal affairs, and demanded that Harris leave the country. 

Seoul's Foreign Ministry issued a statement later in the day expressing concerns about the incident, adding it has asked related South Korean ministries to strengthen the security of the U.S. Embassy and the ambassador’s residence.