U.S. President Donald Trump said South Korea should pay $10 billion for the protection provided by U.S. forces stationed in the country.

Axar.az reports, citing Daily Express US, that speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he was unhappy that Seoul had declined to help Washington with efforts to denuclearize Iran, despite the presence of U.S. troops in South Korea to deter aggression from North Korea.

"South Korea has been protected by us for many, many years. And during my first term, they agreed to pay close to $3 billion a year for protection, because they essentially weren't paying. And I asked them to do that at my request. They said they weren't happy about it, but they agreed," Trump said of the situation, which includes him reducing the joint military exercises in the area.

"I asked for $10 billion, and they were very unhappy. But we agreed for a short term that it would be $3 billion, and next year, it would go up, and the next year, it would go up, so they started paying for their protection," he added.