Korea-US to hold 8th round of defense cost-sharing negotiations in Seoul from 25th to 27th :: Sympathetic Media Newsis ::

‘Attention’ on speedy conclusion of mutually acceptable agreement

(Seoul = Newsis) Reporter Byeon Hae-jeong = The 8th meeting of the Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which will determine Korea’s share of the cost of stationing U.S. troops in Korea, will be held in Seoul from the 25th to the 27th.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 23rd, South Korea and the US will hold the 8th meeting for the conclusion of the 12th South Korea-US Special Measures Agreement on Defense Cost Sharing in Seoul for three days from the 25th to the 27th.

On the Korean side, Lee Tae-woo, the head of the defense cost-sharing negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will serve as the chief representative, while on the U.S. side, Linda Specht, senior adviser to the U.S. State Department, will serve as the chief representative, and foreign affairs and defense officials from both countries will attend.

The 8th meeting will be held 27 days after the 7th meeting was held from the 27th to the 29th of last month.

South Korea and the United States are expected to focus on narrowing differences over key issues, such as the size of the cost-sharing and the criteria for determining the rate of increase, in order to quickly reach a mutually acceptable agreement before the U.S. presidential election in November.

In the previous 7th meeting, the two sides reportedly held in-depth discussions on key issues of concern and made substantial progress.

However, both sides are keeping the details of the negotiations and their progress strictly confidential. Therefore, it is impossible to confirm how much progress has been made in the negotiations.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, “The government plans to proceed with negotiations under the position that our defense cost sharing should be at a reasonable level in order to establish conditions for the stable stationing of U.S. forces in Korea and to strengthen the ROK-U.S. joint defense posture.”

The SMA is an agreement that stipulates the amount that Korea will bear in terms of the cost of stationing U.S. troops in Korea.

The contribution paid by Korea includes the wages of Korean workers employed by the US military in Korea, the construction costs of military facilities within US military bases, ammunition management and transportation support, and the purchase of supplies.

South Korea and the US concluded the 11th SMA in March 2021, which will be valid until the end of 2025. At that time, they agreed to increase the defense cost-sharing for 2021 by 13.9% from the previous year (1.0389 trillion won) to 1.1833 trillion won, and to increase it by the same amount as the previous year’s defense budget increase rate every year for the next four years.

The results of the 12th SMA negotiation meeting will be applied from 2026.

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