7th US-Korea Defense Cost-Sharing Talks on 17th... Government "Efforts for Fair Burden Sharing Agreement"

Negotiations in the US from the 17th to 18th... Attempt to Prioritize Agreement on Labor Costs

On the morning of the 18th, participants at the '100-Person Peace Action Against the U.S. Defense Cost Imposition and Deployment to Hormuz' held on the steps of Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, are urging the immediate cessation of excessive demands for defense cost sharing.

The seventh round of negotiations between South Korea and the United States to determine the level of South Korea's defense cost-sharing contribution for this year will begin next week in the United States.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 13th that the 7th meeting for the conclusion of the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing between South Korea and the U.S. will be held on the 17th and 18th in Los Angeles, USA.

South Korea and the U.S. have been negotiating the conclusion of the 11th SMA, which should be applied from January this year, since last September, but have not reached an agreement due to differences over the total amount and other issues.

It is known that the U.S. has proposed an amount around 4 billion dollars, lower than the initially requested 5 billion dollars, but the government still considers this amount unrealistic.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "The government maintains the basic position of sharing defense costs at a reasonable and fair level within the existing agreement framework, and intends to closely consult with the U.S. side to promptly reach a mutually acceptable agreement," adding, "The government expects the negotiations to proceed in a direction that strengthens the ROK-U.S. alliance and combined defense posture."

South Korea will be represented by Jeong Eun-bo, the chief negotiator for the ROK-U.S. defense cost-sharing talks, while the U.S. delegation will be led by James DeHart, the U.S. Department of State's chief negotiator for defense cost-sharing, both attending the meeting as chief representatives.

The government aims to reach an agreement at this 7th meeting, considering that the agreement signing has already been delayed and that ratification by the National Assembly is necessary, making it desirable to conclude the deal before the April 15 general election.

It is also reported that a new proposal to persuade the U.S. has been prepared. However, if a full agreement on the total amount and other issues proves difficult, the government plans to attempt a priority agreement on labor costs to prevent unpaid leave for Korean workers employed by the U.S. Forces Korea starting April 1.

To this end, the government has proposed to first support labor costs for Korean workers from the defense cost-sharing budget secured at last year's level, and then reflect new terms once the SMA is finally agreed upon.

This meeting comes about two months after the 6th meeting held on January 14-15 (local time) in Washington D.C., USA.