Alliance watch
Trump Says He Will ‘Remember’ South Korea’s Iran Response
Trump said he would “remember” South Korea’s reported response to his request for assistance in Iran.
By DMZ War staff · August 31, 2026
President Donald Trump told Fox News host Trey Gowdy that he asked South Korea to assist the United States in Iran and that it declined, according to a Mediaite report published Aug. 31.
“They want our help. We have thousands and thousands — like, in South Korea, as an example, we have 40,000 soldiers over there. And I said, ‘Would you mind giving us a little hand with Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran?’ And they say, ‘Well, we’d rather not.’ And I said, ‘OK, thank you very much. I appreciate it.’”
“But I think you have to remember this stuff,” Trump added. “I really do.”
The remarks describe Trump’s account. DMZ War has not independently verified the U.S. personnel figure cited in the exchange or the Korean government’s response.
The comments frame the alliance in explicitly transactional terms, linking the American security commitment on the peninsula to Seoul’s willingness to support an operation elsewhere.