South Korea and the U.S. Begin 5th Defense Cost-Sharing Talks Today... Will Negotiations Accelerate?

4th Round of Negotiations Resumes After 13 Days

Negotiations are underway to determine South Korea's share of the costs for the stationing of U.S. Forces Korea.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 10th, the 5th meeting of the Special Measures Agreement (SMA) will be held from 9 a.m. at the Korea National Defense University Seoul Campus in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The negotiation period is three days, until the 12th. Lee Tae-woo, South Korea's chief negotiator for defense cost-sharing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Linda Specht, Senior Advisor from the U.S. Department of State, will serve as chief representatives for their respective sides. Diplomatic and defense officials from both countries will also be present.

This meeting comes 13 days after the 4th meeting held from the 25th to 27th of last month at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. While previous meetings alternated between South Korea and the United States, this time the negotiations are held consecutively in Seoul following the 4th meeting. The 4th meeting involved discussions aimed at broadening mutual understanding and expanding consensus on sector-specific issues.

Earlier meetings were held from April 23 to 25 in Honolulu, Hawaii; from May 21 to 23 in Seoul; and from June 10 to 12 in Washington D.C., where the first to third meetings took place respectively to confirm each side’s basic positions and exchange views on interests and contentious issues. South Korea has set "a reasonable level of contribution" as its negotiation standard, while the U.S. emphasizes "the necessity of cost-sharing to maintain defense posture."

The SMA is an agreement that stipulates the amount South Korea will bear for the costs of stationing U.S. Forces Korea. South Korea’s contributions include wages for Korean workers employed by the U.S. Forces Korea, construction costs for military facilities within U.S. bases, ammunition management, transportation support, and procurement of supplies.

In March 2021, South Korea and the U.S. concluded the 11th SMA, valid until the end of 2025. At that time, the defense cost-sharing amount for 2021 was agreed upon at 1.1833 trillion won, a 13.9% increase from the previous year (1.0389 trillion won), with plans to raise it annually over the next four years in line with the previous year’s defense budget growth rate.

The results of the 12th SMA negotiations will apply from 2026 onward.