By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Leaders of South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to hold the number of U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula at 28,500.
Seoul and Washington had agreed in 2004 to reduce the number of U.S. forces from 37,000 to 25,000 in phases by the end of this year. The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) now has slots for about 28,500 troops and about 27,000 are stationed here.
U.S. President George W. Bush said the decision on the pause in the reduction of U.S. forces in South Korea was based on a mutual agreement aimed at helping further strengthen the half-century-long Korea-U.S. alliance.
``We're constantly in touch and reassessing our needs and we have reaffirmed our need to remain in close dialogue,'' Bush said in a joint press availability here with President Lee Myung-bak at Camp David. ``And we reached an agreement to maintain the current U.S. troop level on the peninsula. This is a mutual agreement that benefits both our nations and will strengthen our alliance.''
The defense ministers of the two nations will coordinate its implementation, said Bush. Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee and his U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates, are expected to hold bilateral talks as early as next month, according to Seoul officials.
Controversy is expected to erupt over the plan, however, as any changes in troop level would be linked to defense cost-sharing amid growing calls from Washington for an increased financial contribution for the presence of U.S. troops.
South Korea currently pays about $751 million (741 billion won), or 43 percent of costs related to the USFK presence, while the United States has called on Seoul to pay more to reach the 50-50 level.
President Lee stressed the role of the Korea-U.S. alliance in maintaining peace and stability in Northeast Asia, as well as on the Korean Peninsula in particular. He said the alliance is called upon to undergo new changes in accordance with the fast-changing economic and security situation.
``President Bush and I agreed to develop our alliance into one based on freedom and democracy, human rights and the principle of a market economy ― otherwise known as the 21st century strategic alliance, something that will contribute to global peace and security,'' he said.
In a step toward developing a stronger alliance, the White House will work with Congress to help upgrade Seoul's U.S. foreign military sales (FMS) status, so that South Korea will be able to have the same access to U.S. military technologies as NATO and other key allies, Bush said.
Despite its huge arms deals with the United States, South Korea is in the third FMS group, alongside Egypt, the Philippines and Thailand, meaning it is required to spend more money and time buying American weapons systems than NATO member countries and FMS-favored nations ― Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
In February, Republican Ed Royce of California introduced a bill ― the United States-Republic of Korea Defense Cooperation Improvement Act of 2008 ― that calls for placing South Korea in the NATO-plus-three member state category in the FMS program.
The bill said South Korea has been a major purchaser of United States defense items and services through the FMS program, totaling $6.9 billion in deliveries over the last 10 years. The figure marks Seoul as the fifth-largest weapons importer from the U.S. government.