US-ROK Defense Cost-Sharing Talks Resume After 2 Weeks... Notable Shortened Interval

SMA 5th Meeting to Be Held in Seoul This Week

The 5th meeting of the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on defense cost-sharing between South Korea and the United States will be held in Seoul from the 10th to the 12th. The photo shows the negotiation team attending the 4th meeting on the 25th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The 5th meeting of the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on Defense Cost-Sharing between South Korea and the United States, aimed at determining South Korea's defense cost-sharing contribution for the US Forces Korea after 2026, will be held in Seoul from the 10th to the 12th.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 8th, the two countries will resume negotiations about two weeks after holding the 4th meeting in Seoul from the 25th to the 27th of last month.

The ROK and the US held their first meeting in Hawaii from April 23 to 25, the second meeting in Seoul from May 21 to 23, and the third meeting in Washington DC from the 10th to the 12th of last month.

With the US presidential election in November approaching, the interval between meetings is becoming shorter, indicating that both sides have entered a full-scale negotiation phase over key issues such as the scale of the contribution and the criteria for determining the rate of increase.

The government is reportedly proceeding with consultations under the position that South Korea's defense cost-sharing should be conducted at a reasonable level to ensure stable stationing conditions for the US Forces Korea and to strengthen the ROK-US combined defense posture.