Republic of Korea with most of its food and energy supplies and, until recently, accounted for approximately 90 percent of the total trade volume of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (18) On June 30, 2017, President Donald Trump stated, Our goal is peace, stability and prosperity for the region. But the United States will defend itself, always will defend itself, always, and we will always defend our allies. As part of that commitment, we are working together to ensure fair burden sharing and support of the United States military presence in Republic of Korea. . (19) South Korea already pays for approximately 50 percent of the total nonpersonal costs of the 28,500 United States members of the Armed Forces on the Korean Peninsula, amounting to $887,500,000 in 2018. (20) President Moon Jae-in has committed to increasing the defense spending of South Korea during his term from the current level 2.4 percent of the gross domestic product to 2.9 percent of the gross domestic product. (21) News reports published in early May 2018 have stated that President Trump asked the Secretary of Defense to provide him with options for removing United States troops from the Korean Peninsula. (22) National Security Advisor John Bolton responded, The President has not asked the Pentagon to provide options for reducing American forces stationed in South Korea. . (23) A spokesman for the Secretary stated, The president has not asked the Pentagon to provide options for reducing American forces stationed in South Korea. The Department of Defense's mission in South Korea remains the same, and our force posture has not changed. The Department of Defense remains committed to supporting the maximum pressure campaign, developing and maintaining military options for the President, and reinforcing our ironclad security commitment with our allies. We all remain committed to complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. . (b) Sense of Senate It is the sense of the Senate that— (1) South Korea is a