South Korea and the U.S. to Hold Video Defense Talks Next Month... Likely to Discuss Defense Cost-Sharing and Joint Exercises

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo (right) and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper shake hands at a joint press conference held after the 51st Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) between Korea and the U.S., held on the 15th at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter]Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper are planning to hold a video conference next month.

On the 25th, a government official said, "The South Korea-U.S. military authorities plan to hold a defense minister meeting via video conference next month, but the specific date has not been decided."

This meeting is known to have been arranged following the cancellation of the Shangri-La Dialogue. The Shangri-La Dialogue is an Asia Security Conference attended annually by the top security commanders of major Asia-Pacific countries, held every year in Singapore, but it was canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this regard, earlier this month, the trilateral security meeting (DTT) between South Korea, the U.S., and Japan was held via video conference, and it was agreed to hold a defense minister meeting via video conference next month on a mutually agreed date.

The South Korea-U.S. defense minister meeting is also expected to be held around the time of the trilateral defense minister meeting. In particular, it is known that the meeting is being arranged at the request of the U.S. side. Accordingly, Secretary Esper is expected to reiterate his country's position demanding an increase in defense cost-sharing contributions.

South Korea and the U.S. have been negotiating the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing, which will apply from this year, since September last year, but have not yet reached an agreement.

Initially, at the end of March, a tentative agreement was reached to increase last year's contribution (1.0389 trillion won) by 13%, but it is reported that the final agreement was not reached due to the refusal of then-President Donald Trump.

Along with this, regarding the Korea-U.S. joint military exercises, which were indefinitely postponed due to the impact of COVID-19, discussions are expected to include measures to conduct verification exercises for wartime operational control (OPCON) capabilities in the second half of the year.