South Korea and the U.S. Officially Sign the 11th Defense Cost-Sharing Agreement

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] South Korea and the United States officially signed the 11th Special Measures Agreement (SMA), which regulates the cost-sharing for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea, on the 8th.

Choi Jong-geon, First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Robert Rapson, Charg? d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Korea, signed the agreement on behalf of the South Korean and U.S. governments, respectively, at the signing ceremony held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Doryeom-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, in the afternoon.

Following this, Kim Sang-jin, Director General for International Policy at the Ministry of National Defense, and Thomas Widely, Chief of Staff for Planning at the U.S. Forces Korea Command, signed the SMA implementation agreement.

Earlier, on the 7th of last month, the South Korean and U.S. governments agreed to increase South Korea's defense cost-sharing by 13.9% compared to last year and to raise it annually over the next four years in line with the defense budget growth rate. The cost-sharing amount for 2020, during the agreement gap period, was frozen at the 2019 level.

Subsequently, on the 18th, at the South Korea-U.S. 2+2 meeting, the foreign and defense ministers of both countries met directly to hold a preliminary signing ceremony and agreed to further strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

The government completed the preliminary signing during the visit of the U.S. foreign and defense ministers on the 18th of last month, followed by review by the Ministry of Government Legislation, approval by the State Council, presidential approval, and formal signing. Now, only the National Assembly's ratification consent remains before the agreement comes into effect.