U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeated calls for allies to share security cost burdens amid negotiations between Seoul and Washington to renew their defense-cost sharing agreement.

Pompeo made the call on Thursday during an interview with The Wichita Eagle, a local newspaper in Kansas, while defending U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw forces from Syria. 

The secretary said the U.S. has made clear things that it's not prepared to do. He added it’s important for people to understand that other countries have to step up too and must share the burden for not just the security of the world, but for their own countries.

The top U.S. diplomat also said that Trump has been very clear that Washington has high expectations that other countries throughout the world who depend on free passage in the Strait of Hormuz will share their burden for themselves as well.